


The Phoenix Trilogy

by Denise



Series: The End of the World [1]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Apocafic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-28
Updated: 2012-06-27
Packaged: 2017-11-08 17:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 51,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/445863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denise/pseuds/Denise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"We've brought things back from all over the galaxy. One of them's finally snapped us in the ass."</p><p> </p><p>General Hammond</p><p>Message in a Bottle</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fini

**Author's Note:**

> Previously published over 3 years in a zine, Fini, Natus and Primordium was co written with a friend of mine, Adi. We plotted and planned and IM'd incessantly. She pushed me out of my 'keep it canon' comfort zone for the first time and it was a great ride.

Title-  Fini

Author- Denise and Adi

Category- Angst, Drama

Season- 3ish

Spoilers – Tokra, Legacy, ITLOD, Holiday, Singularity, FIAD, COTG, Emancipation, Learning Curve

Rating- PG-13

Content Warning- Character death (s), {with a title like Fini, what do you expect?}, Language, disturbing imagry (the end of the world is not pretty…and there are no sarcophaguses here)

 

Summary- The most innocent of things can hold the deadliest of secrets.

 

Disclaimer Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

 

Note- Thanks to Adi, it's her plot bunny, it grew to gigantic proportions all on its own. (and it is rather therapeutic to kill everyone <G>) But consider yourselves warned, this is not a cheery fic. Multiple Kleenex alert here if we did our jobs right. It's set somewhere after Learning Curve. Many thanks to Kate, the fastest beta in the west.

 

Summary- The most innocent of things can hold the deadliest of secrets.

Disclaimer Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

Note- Thanks to Adi, it's her plot bunny, it grew to gigantic proportions all on its own. (and it is rather therapeutic to kill everyone <G>) But consider yourselves warned, this is not a cheery fic. Multiple Kleenex alert here if we did our jobs right. It's set somewhere after Learning Curve.

 

"We've brought things back from all over the galaxy. One of them's finally snapped us in the ass."

 

General Hammond

Message in a Bottle

Fini

By

Adi and Denise

 

 

 

 

 

 

  It was going to be a beautiful sunrise, the start of a gorgeous day. She could just see the sky beginning to change colors. The black and white of night was giving way to the vibrant spectrum of dawn. The grass and leaves, off white in the darkness would change into a brilliant dark green. It was the middle of spring, but the weather was apparently wearing dentures as the night air still had a bit of a bite to it. Once the sun comes up though, it would be a wonderfully warm day; the kind of day that mothers decide a little hooky isn't that bad. Dads would use a sick day and pack the family into the car. They’d go to the beach or a park, have ice cream and chocolate cake. They’d come home happy and tired and would spend the evening on the couch watching TV, laughing at all the sitcoms, even if they aren’t funny. Years later when they look back they would see that day as lasting forever.

That is, if they had lived it. That is, if they had been alive. That is, if she wasn’t the only person on Earth. It was going to be a beautiful sunrise, her last sunrise.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 ' _I don’t like this. I really don’t like this.'_

_'So you’ve said, Jacob. To me, to the council, to anyone who would listen. We agree with you. That’s why we are disregarding the Tau'ri’s orders and flying to their planet.'_

_'Well they haven’t been answering our calls and we can't get the gate to engage.'_

_'It may just be a technical malfunction, you know.'_

_'Then they would have sent someone for help.'_

_'They are prideful, perhaps they thought they could fix it themselves.'_

_'Selmac, there’s something wrong. I can feel it in my bones.'_

_'Father’s intuition?'_

_'Don’t push me, Sel, please, not now. Not until I know my daughter is ok.'_

 

 

 

<><><><><> 

 

Ruthlessly, she went over her checklist in her mind, cursing the exhaustion which fogged her brain. She had to get everything done; there was no room for error, no second chances. The gate was sealed, the iris permanently welded inside the event horizon rather than micrometers away. Finishing that had been Sargent Siler's last act. He'd collapsed on the ramp, never to get up.

 

The transmitter was working, powered by one of her naquadah reactors. She figured it'd broadcast for about a year, maybe a bit longer. Hopefully, by then everyone would know to stay away.

 

The sky brightened a bit more and she could make out details in the city below. Hovering clouds of smoke…and other things, replaced the smoldering flames of random fires. Even high on the mountain, she could hear the raucous cries of ravens and crows drawn to the unexpected feast. She could hear the intermittent roaring of the big cats of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. She vaguely recalled hearing that someone had opened all the cages, freeing the animals from captivity and certain death. Real live lions, tigers and bears now roamed the land. Pragmatically, she thought it was a good idea. The more they cleaned up, the less the chance of diseases spreading.

 

Why, she asked herself, why had it happened? It had all started so innocently. A tiny little artifact. A small device brought back from a new world. It had looked so harmless, so benign. It had been non-threatening enough that when the NID had started in on one of their 'send us tech' rants she'd packed it up and shipped it off to Nevada without even studying it. It was a decision she regretted. A decision that cost billions of lives.

 

The tiny piece hadn't been benign at all. In fact, it was the most deadly thing in the world. This was no mere piece of pottery, no artistic carving. It was a death sentence. One she helped to pronounce upon the world.

 

The device was a homing beacon, that when activated, triggered the release of hundreds of tiny missiles planted on the moon. Missiles which bombarded the planet, burning up in the atmosphere, releasing their poison thousands of feet up in a way to guarantee planetwide disbursement. It was actually a brilliant plan. The goa'uld hadn't lifted a finger…the Tau'ri had killed themselves.

 

Who had planted the poison? How long had it been up there? She didn't know. Perhaps it was new; perhaps the bombs had been lying in wait for millennia, waiting for the trigger. Maybe it had been a plot against Ra or Hathor or Seth. No one knew, and now no one was left to care.

 

The first people fell sick within twenty-four hours and died one to two days later. It hadn't taken that long for panic to take the planet in a stranglehold that it never released.

 

All across Earth they'd worked on a cure, even coming close once, only to have the virus mutate into another strain, one even more deadly. Two weeks. It had only taken two weeks for the population of earth to decline from billions to…one.

 

Janet's best guess was that it was the protein in her blood that made her immune. Like with Machello's goa'uld killers, she'd tried to give her protein to others. But it hadn't worked this time. Oh, it had helped for a while; the people who took the serum had a higher resistance. But in the end all it had done was prolong the inevitable. They'd died…every single one of them. One by one they'd fallen, some quietly, others not.

 

At first they'd tried to treat the bodies with dignity. In the end they'd simply zatted the bodies into non-existence.

 

That worked for the SGC…the rest of the world was a different story. There were billions of bodies out there, she knew. Billions of innocent people who never knew why they died. Who never knew that she'd killed them.

 

Despite their best efforts, she knew it had taken less than a week for civilization to collapse. People panicked and chaos reigned. With every official and officer stricken, there had been no National Guard to call out, no police to answer the calls for help. She vaguely recalled hearing reports of looting and total disorder before the local power plants went off line and the world was plunged into its second dark age. One they would never emerge from.

 

And now it was over. The era of Man had come to an end. Maybe the monkeys would rise next, or maybe the bees or ants. It didn't matter. She wouldn't be here to see it.

 

She looked at the object in her hands. Its burnished surface glinted in the pale light. Her personal side arm. It actually was a miracle she'd had it with her. She usually kept it at home and used a pistol from the armory. Given the frequency that they'd lost their weapons, she saw no reason to risk her own.

 

Her dad had bought the gun for her the day she got her first apartment. Growing up in a military family, she'd learned to shoot at an early age and was no stranger to fire arms. He'd given the 9mm Beretta to her as a house-warming gift, telling her to use it if she needed to. She'd taken it to the Gulf with her, a tiny measure of comfort. The scratch on the butt was still there from the time she'd had her near miss with a scud missile. It was her version of Linus' blanket.

 

She didn't know why she'd brought the weapon to work, some pre-cognitive insight maybe. It was fitting that she'd use this weapon. Was she taking the easy way out? Maybe it was her duty to remain at her post until the end. She'd thought about leaving this death world, but she didn't dare. She had no way of knowing if she was carrying the virus. It was bad enough that she'd killed one planet, she couldn't add another to her list of sins.

 

She ran her fingers up and down the barrel, the metal cold under her hand. She couldn't do it. She couldn't stay here for the next however many years while she waited to starve or die. She'd thought she could…right up until last week. Last week when she'd killed the last intelligent life form on this planet.

 

"Major Samantha Carter…the jury finds you guilty of murder. The sentence is…death," she whispered. In the east the sun broke the horizon, the bright flare of light making her tear filled eyes water even more. "I'm sorry." She closed her eyes, squeezing the tears down her cheeks as she raised the gun to her temple. "So sorry."

 

<><><><><> 

 

'I _will never doubt your bones again, Jacob.'_

The Tel'tac was shrouded in silence, the kind that follows the delivery of extremely bad news. It usually came before terrible heartbroken cries of newly informed widows or fierce denials of parents who would never again see their children alive.

 

  The silence was broken by the repetition of the message that had caused it in the first place.

 

  “Attention all approaching vessels, this planet is under strict quarantine. It has been contaminated by a lethal airborne virus which is 100% fatal. Repeat, this planet has been contaminated by a virus with a 100% mortality rate. Do not land under any circumstance.”

 

  The message was then repeated in Goa’uld by a weak raspy voice.

 

  ' _Teal’c_ ,' supplied Selmac. ' _He sounds unwell.'_

 

  ' _Yes, he does,'_ agreed Jacob. 'B _ut not Sam, she sounds fine.'_

 

  ' _Jacob_ . . .'

 

  ' _Don’t even start, Selmac, That’s my kid down there, she could be alive.'_

_'You heard the message, Jacob. 100% mortality rate. There is no one down there.'_

_'Teal’c would have been the last to have gotten sick. He was dying, Sam sounded well.'_

_'It’s possible she made the recording days ago.'_

_'I have to try, Selmac. I owe her that much. We both do.'_

_'Very well, Jacob. Talk to Aldwin, if he agrees we shall descend.'_

_'Thank you, Selmac.'_

_'I am quite fond of her myself, you know.'_

 

 

<><><><><> 

 

The Tel'tac landed behind her with a rush and roar of displaced air. Panicking, she turned around and fired at the door, hoping whoever was in it would get the hint and stay inside. They had to stay inside. They were safe inside. They wouldn't be safe out here with her.

 

  _Why are they here?_ She wondered. _Didn’t they get the message? I thought I hooked up the reactor right. Will they die? Will it be my fault?_

The door opened, her hopes shattered. The sun had risen, her gun was empty, and she had lost her chance to die without having to deal with the full force of her guilt and pain. Crying out in frustration, exhaustion, but mostly despair, Sam fell to her knees, still clinging to her gun.

 

 <><><><><>

 

The first thing that hit them as they left the ship was the smell. It traveled on the breeze which entered the Tel'tac when the door swooshed open. Selmac had smelled it before, so had Jacob. Death, and rotting, and more death on top of that. The second was the silence. Maybe not so conspicuous at dawn, but still slightly disturbing, like a buzz that wasn’t there.

 

  Jacob told Aldwin to stay inside, if the planet was indeed contaminated there was no need for both of them to die, and ran from the small ship, heedless of the warning shot at his door. The vision he encountered would haunt him for the rest of his life and Selmac for hundreds of years.

 

  Sam was kneeling not ten meters from him, rocking back and forth sobbing so hard he thought she would turn herself inside out. She might not have been dead, she might not have even been ill, but she was not well, not by a long shot. So thin, she looked like a falling leaf would be enough to make her crumble. Eyes rimmed with circles so dark he wondered if she even remembered how to sleep, and she was so pale, just so pale. In that moment he knew he was standing on an empty planet, alive, flourishing, but empty of intelligent life.

 

  “Oh, Sam.” At the sound of her name Sam focused her tear stained eyes at her father.

 

 “Get away!” she screamed at him, and when he didn’t move she raised her arm and threw her gun at him. He caught it easily. He allowed himself a moment of nostalgia when he recognized it. He couldn’t believe she still had it. He remembered how many weapons he had lost during his military career.

 

 _'Careful, Jacob,_ ' Selmac warned.

 

_'For pete's sake Sel, she's my kid, she won't hurt me.'_

 

 _'She shot at you,_ ' the symbiote reminded.

 

 _'She's not thinking clearly,_ ' he excused.

 

 _'Which is precisely why you should exercise caution. Whatever has transpired here, it has not been pleasant,'_ the alien warned, recognizing the signs of a person teetering on the edge of the abyss of insanity.

 

"Sam. Honey. It's dad," Jake said in a quiet voice, trying not to startle her further.

 

"NO! Go Away!" She screamed, crawling back.

 

"Sam. Tell me what happened. What are you doing up here? Where are the others?"

 

She stopped crawling and stared off into the distance. "Others?"

 

"Colonel O'Neill, Daniel, George. We heard Teal'c's voice on the recording. Is he in the mountain?" Jake asked, edging his way closer.

 

"Gone," she said simply.

 

"Where'd they go?"

 

"They went away. They're all gone and I'm all that's left," she whispered, drawing her legs up and curling herself into a ball.

 

 _'If there was an evacuation, they would not have left her behind,'_ Selmac said.

 

 _'They might not have had a choice,'_ he told Selmac. "Sam." He reached out his hand. "Why don't we go down and check things out?" He was unprepared for the violence of her reaction when she jolted out of her stupor, pulling away from his touch with a scream. Before he could react, she jumped to her feet and ran away from him, towards the ship. "Sam!" He yelled, ready to follow her. There was an electric whine and she collapsed to the ground, her body shuddering in reaction to the Zat. "Aldwin! What the hell are you doing?" he demanded of his companion. "I thought I told you to stay in the ship."

 

"I did a complete scan of the air, there is no sign of a contagion. It is possible that it is harmless now. I have seen this state of mind before, she would have likely hurt herself," he explained, dropping to his knees by Sam.

 

Joining him, Jacob had to admit Aldwin was right. He reached out and brushed the tousled and tangled hair off her forehead. "Why don't you take her into the ship? I'll go down and see if I can find any answers in the SGC."

 

"The contagion has dissipated on the surface, but in the enclosed atmosphere of the SGC, it may still be concentrated enough to be deadly," Aldwin warned.

 

"Maybe. But we need answers, and we're not going to get any from her in the near future. If I'm not back in an hour, take off. Let the Tok'ra know that the Tau'ri have fallen." Jacob got to his feet as Aldwin did the same, cradling an unconscious Sam in his arms. He watched the Tok'ra carry her into the ship, relieved that she was at least alive.

 

 _'This will likely be most unpleasant,_ ' Selmac warned.

 

 _'I know, Sel. But I have to know what happened. And there is a chance that the SGC could have some off-world teams who are still alive._ '

 

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

Jacob slowly made his way down to the SGC knowing that if it wasn't for his blending with Selmac he couldn't make it in his self-allotted hour. There were still a few systems running on the generator, but those systems didn't include the elevators. Given how long it would take him to climb back up twenty-eight levels, he knew he'd only have a few minutes in the facility.

 

Prioritizing, he decided to make his way directly to the control room and George's office. He figured that any answers, if there were any, would be there.

 

Along the way, he wondered vaguely at the lack of bodies. Given the sheer number of corpses up top, he expected the SGC to be a charnel house. Instead, the regulation gray halls were eerily vacant.

 

The control room was empty; its chairs neatly set in front of silent monitors. It looked as if each computer had been carefully shut down, each piece of equipment sitting in its usual spot, dormant, simply waiting for someone to flip a switch and reanimate it.

There was a large box sitting by one of the consoles. It looked to be jury rigged to the communication system.

 

 _'That must be what's powering the radio. This is creepier than if it had been a mess,'_ Jake told Selmac, staring at the stargate. The iris was closed. The metal showed signs of being welded shut, lighter and rougher seams of metal permanently locking the blades into place. _'I doubt there's anything in these computers, Sel. It would take too long to boot up, and I don't know the codes anyway.'_

_'Perhaps General Hammond's office holds some answers?_ '

 

Internally nodding, Jacob left the control room and climbed the stairs wincing at the loud banging sound of his feet. Without the omnipresent hum of machinery and fans, the control room was silent as a tomb.

 

Steeling himself, he entered George's office. It was just as neat and clean as the rest of the facility. All of the man's knick-knacks and mementos still graced the shelves. His desk was totally clean with the exception of a large sheaf of paper and a lap top computer.

 

Feeling a bit of an interloper, Jake pushed the chair back and picked up the paper. He scanned the missive, his mind refusing to believe what he read. _'My God, Sel…'_

 

_'Jacob.'_

 

_'She was right…they're all gone.'_

 

 _'Jacob.'_ The man sank down into the chair, his legs giving out from under him.

_'They're all dead.'_ Jake ran his fingers down the list of names…pages and pages of names.

 

_'Jacob, we have to go.'_

_'How? How could this happen?'_

 

 _'Jacob. We must go,_ ' the symbiote urged.

'Selmac...'

 

 _'Jacob…if we do not leave now we will not have time to reach the surface before Aldwin leaves. Do you want her thinking you're dead as well,'_ Selmac urged, trying to tamp down her host's grief. She felt it too…but she also knew this was not the time or place for it.

 

Giving in to the creature's pragmatism, Jake got to his feet. Spying George's briefcase he picked it up, tucking the papers and laptop into it. He knew why the reports had been left where they were, and he almost felt like a grave robber. But these pieces of paper carried the only clues to whatever had murdered a planet.

 

Zipping the case shut, he took one last glance at the empty office and felt the weight of sadness bearing down on him. "We'll get the bastards, George. You have my word. Payback's a bitch and whoever did this is gonna find that out. You will be avenged, my friend."

 

He carefully pushed the chair back into the desk and hurriedly made his way out of the office. He couldn't do anything for them now…but maybe he could do something for Sam.

 

<><><><><> 

 

“Sam.” No response. “Sammy.” Silence. Jacob leaned his head back on the bulkhead. He hadn’t been there when she woken up. But Aldwin said she had screamed. That was the last time she had made noise of any kind.

 

' _She’s gone, Selmac.'_

_'No, Jacob, she is simply hiding.'_

 

' _I’ll kill them! I’ll kill every last one of them!_ '

 

' _Now is not the time for anger. You daughter is hurt, we must help her.'_

 

 ' _How?'_

 

_'I have seen this sort of thing before. We cannot do anything until we reach the Tok’ra. I suggest you watch her. Her state of mind could change at any moment, and not for the better.'_

 

 ' _Anything would be better than this.'_

 

' _Really, Jacob? And if she tries to destroy herself? Would that be better? If she rips her hair out and tries to claw her eyes from her head? Would that suit you?'_

 

' _Oh God, Selmac. Not her. Not Sam.'_

 

' _Her world died before her eyes, Jacob. Over the past four years she has had trauma upon trauma. There is only so much the human mind can take.'_

 

Jacob looked at his daughter curled up so tightly in the corner. He couldn’t understand how she had made herself so small. He hadn’t been able to help her when her mother, his wife, died. How could he help her now?

 

“Sam?” Silence.

 

  <><><><><>

 

“She doesn't speak." The two men spoke softly as to not disturb the blond woman sitting on the bed, staring at the wall. Her posture screaming defeat and resignation.

 

“Do you blame her? She just lost her whole world, literally. She saw everyone she knew, and a whole lot more die a senseless death. I think she's earned the right to be in shock," the older looking man said.

 

“She does not eat, Jacob, nor drink or sleep voluntarily, she does not cry. It is as if we are simply looking at her body and her beautiful soul is gone." Jacob looked at Martouf. It was no secret that the Tok'ra was attracted to his daughter, but he had not guessed those feelings ran so deep. "She will make herself ill".

 

Jacob nodded, even now, days after they had arrived at the Tok’ra base and were given the all clear to come down, she had not told them what happened. How everyone had died, or how she had survived. The look in her eyes frightened them, and the screams which ripped out of her chest at night sent a cold chill through their hearts. Their helplessness frustrated them. All they could do was stay close to her as she waundered the tunnels aimlessly only to return to her room and continue to stare at the wall.

 

<><><><><>

 

“I want to be blended again." Both men started at the first intelligible words that had come out Sam's mouth since she had left Earth. Her gaze never strayed from the wall and she had started to gently rock back and forth, comforting herself. Selmac screamed at Jacob to gather his little girl in his arms and whisper to her that it would be all right, that he was there for her, that he would make things better. But Jacob couldn't make things better, and he wasn't about to offer inadequate reassurances to his now only child.

 

Kneeling down before her, trying unsuccessfully to catch her eye, he took her cold thin hands in his. "Why, Sam? Why would you want to be blended after Jolinar?"

 

Sam didn't take her hands away from his, didn't stop her rocking, didn't move her eyes away from her spot on the wall. "Worse things than Jolinar have happened to me since then." She said coldly, bitterly, She hated something, Jacob just didn't know what. Life maybe? God? Did she even believe in such a thing now. "I just don't want to . . . " her voice broke and took Jacob's heart right with it. He would not deny this woman anything, nor would Martouf. Nor would any of the Tok'ra. "I just can't be alone anymore." And then the tears finally came, slowly at first, silently, but then racing down her face accompanied by loud choked sobs.

 

Finally allowing Selmac to control, the symbiote took Samantha in her father's arms and rocked her, and cooed her, and stroked her hair and back. When the woman finally calmed and fell into a fitful sleep, Selmac looked up at a stunned and helpless Martouf.

 

“Inform the Council of what has just occurred, but tell them to make no plans. Samantha is not in the state of mind to make any life altering decisions.”

 

  <><><><><>

 

 “Sam?” She didn’t acknowledge him, but he knew she was listening. "Sam honey, we need to talk." Jacob slid down next to her on the floor. She was pointedly ignoring him, still staring at the far wall in rapt fascination. "I found this on George's desk, and it explains a lot. But I…we need to know exactly what happened," he said gently.

 

"I told you," she whispered. "They're dead."

 

"I know that. Sam…How did it happen?"

 

She shook her head. "No. You have the report. I…you don't need me…"

 

"Kid. You just said you want a symbiote. Just a few months ago you made me promise…you made Selmac promise that we'd let you die before becoming a host again. I need to know what changed."

 

"I changed my mind. I want to be a host," she said calmly.

 

Jacob nodded as Selmac came to the front. "Samantha. In recent days you have given us great cause to fear for your mental stability. In good conscience, I cannot commit another life form to share your fate if your mind is indeed damaged. The council is willing to accept you as a host, provided that you can prove to them, and to us, that not only are you willing, but you are suitable."

 

"No one gave a damn if I was suitable when Jolinar forced her way into me. And just last year, Martouf was more than eager for me to host you, Selmac. Since when have the Tok'ra cared?" She demanded, a tiny burst of anger breaking through her apathy. How dare they? How dare they question her? The colonel hadn't been far wrong when he'd compared the Tok'ra to vultures…eagerly looking forward to hearing that someone was dying so they could re-use the body.

 

"Since now. Samantha, we care greatly for you and we would welcome you as a host. However, we will not risk the life of one of our own by blending them with a person who has been obviously suicidal." Ruthlessly the symbiote pressed on, ignoring how the human flinched at the word suicidal. "You must convince us that we are not condemning one of our own to an untimely death."

 

Her sapphire eyes flashing with anger, Sam met Selmac's gaze for the first time in a week. "Fine. What do you want to know?" she asked coldly.

 

The Tok'ra opened the thick folder. "You wrote here that Daniel died first. How did it happen?"

 

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

 

"Janet." Sam weaved her way through the maze of cots and beds, intent upon the petite brunette standing in the corner. She had never seen the infirmary this full before. All the beds were occupied and now the sick were lying upon standard issue cots, air mattresses, and pallets on the floor. The major knew that the gym and the large storeroom on level 23 had also been converted to impromptu infirmaries,

staffed by every nurse and medic that Janet could get her hands on. Originally, she knew the doctor had wanted to use the isolation rooms like she had years ago during the outbreak of the virus from the Land of Light, but that plan had been abandoned simply because there were not enough trained medical personnel to go around.

 

Since it had taken them several hours to determine that the virus was airborne…containing it was impossible. The ventilation system had literally contaminated each and every room of the facility before they even knew they were breathing in a deadly contagion. "How is he?" she asked quietly, coming to a halt at her friend's side.

 

"Sam…hi," the woman replied distractedly. Sam looked at her and felt a pang of concern. Janet looked horrible. Sam couldn't recall ever seeing her friend so pale. Her hair was mussed and tangled, a definitely non-regulation mixture of bits of it still tied back and the rest hanging around her face in lank strands. Her eyes were sunken and the circles under them looked as dark as camouflage grease paint.

 

She'd discarded her uniform days before and was now clad in wrinkled and stained scrubs. Sam knew her fastidious friend would be disgusted to be wearing such dirty clothes, but she really had no choice. There was no one healthy enough to do the laundry and the supply of clean clothes had run out days ago. "He's…" She trailed off and Sam looked at her sharply.

 

"Janet?"

 

The doctor sighed heavily. "His O2 sats are down to 70. Both lungs are now operating at less than 25 percent. He's…" She took a deep breath and steadied herself. "Nothing's working, Sam. The virus is slowly eating him alive. His liver is failing and his renal functions are non-existent. It's…. it's like the virus liquefies his lungs. The cells break down into a liquid, which makes it hard to breathe. He tries to cough it up, which damages more cells…he's literally drowning internally."

 

"Well, you said something about antibiotics…or one of those tubes to suck the fluid out," Sam said, grasping at treatment methods the doctor had suggested in a briefing days before.

 

"I've tried that. It doesn't work." She took her friend's arm. "Sam, maybe you should go tell him goodbye…while he's still conscious enough to know."

 

"Janet, NO! There has to be a way. We have all this stuff."

 

"Sam."

 

A weak raspy voice broke the argument. Turning from the doctor, Sam turned her attention to the frail figure on the bed. He'd lost weight in the past few days. Every one seemed to. Before it attacked the organs, the virus seemed to incubate in the victim's muscles, decimating them to gain strength and to weaken the host enough that when they finally did show symptoms…they didn't have the strength to fight the illness. She'd heard reports of people on the surface falling ill and dying within hours.

 

"Daniel, hi." She took his flaccid hand in hers, alarmed at how cold it was. She sandwiched it between her own in an attempt to warm it.

 

"Sorry," he gasped breathing in large gulps.

 

"Hey. What do you have to be sorry about?"

 

"Should…have…caught it."

 

"You did catch it."

 

"No…trans…lation. Ignored it…not…important. My…fault."

 

"None of that. I missed it too. I sent it off to Nevada," she said referring to the Pandora's box the goa'uld had left for them. A tiny statue they'd brought back from a planet. No one had thought much about it then. It was just a little statue of an unknown god sitting amongst a mother lode of zats and staff weapons they'd stumbled upon.

 

The colonel had been ecstatic. They'd actually been able to bring back some tech, something to keep the NID off their backs. Ignoring the niggling thoughts that maybe it'd been too easy; they'd packed up their spoils and returned to Earth.

 

The statue had sat, unnoticed and unnoted in Daniel's office for months. None of them had any idea what it was, not until it was too late.

 

"No." He weakly tightened his fingers around hers.

 

"Daniel. Let's not worry about whose fault it is. You just concentrate on getting better, ok? You'll get better and we'll fix this and it'll all be ok," she said, trying to stop the tears welling up in her eyes.

 

He shook his head. "Tell Jack…always were friends, Teal'c….not his fault. I…I'll miss…" A sudden spate of coughing wracked his frame causing his drained body to jerk spasmodically.

 

"Daniel!" Sam yelled, feeling his hand clench on hers. "Daniel…" Hearing the rumble of fluid she reached out to roll him to his side so he wouldn't choke. His body spasmed and a gush of bright blood cascaded from his open mouth. "Oh my God…Daniel…" Her friend gave one last cough and suddenly went still, his fingers tightening over hers once more, then relaxing into limp, boneless digits. "Daniel…" she choked out, her hand caressing his still face. "I'm so sorry…" she whispered, tears streaming unheeded down her face. "So sorry."

 

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

 

"He died first…Janet said maybe it was his allergies…that they made him vulnerable," Sam said in a quiet, calm voice. It chilled Jacob worse than if she'd sobbed out the story. "I…I wish he could have been buried on Abydos but…the general had quarantined the base."

 

"Yes. We tried to dial Earth, but could not connect," Selmac prodded.

 

Sam nodded. "Siler…we moved the iris closer to the event horizon. We didn't want anyone coming to Earth and catching it. He died there…on the ramp. I didn't even know he was sick. They all started to die after that, one by one. We wanted to bury thembut…we couldn't get to the surface," she related, again staring off at the far wall. Her fingers worried the ragged edge of her borrowed clothing, endlessly folding and re-folding the material.

 

"What happened to the bodies?"

 

She quirked her head and smiled a little. "Zat, zat, zat," she said, holding her hand out like a mock gun. "One, two, three, and they're all gone." Her face fell. "Except for the blood." She turned and met his gaze. "They'd bleed all over the floor and…the body would go away but the blood wouldn't."

 

"We saw no blood stains Samantha."

 

"Oh, I cleaned it up. I…you always made me clean up my messes. I got it all…I made sure of that. I looked in each room and cleaned it up. I…but not outside. I couldn't clean up the outside. There was so much…so much blood." She stopped working the cloth and rubbed her hands together. "It got on me. I…He didn't blame me you know?"

 

"Who?"

 

"The colonel. I…we tried…it's all Jolinar's fault."

 

"How is that?"

 

"This." She held up her arm. "She did this to me. She changed me. That's why I didn't die. We thought it was the naquadah, but it wasn't."

 

"The protein marker you carry."

 

She nodded. "Everyone who fought to not be a host…everyone who thought I was bad because I had been…it would have saved them. I tried to give it to them. Janet drew blood…not enough. I…she wouldn't take enough. But we tried. Just like before. But it didn't work. They still died…just slower. The colonel, General Hammond, Janet… they all took it. We thought it'd work but…"

 

"How did Colonel O'Neill die, Samantha?" Selmac broke into her ramblings.

 

"Who?"

 

"Jack. How did Jack die?"

 

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

 

"We have a problem, sir," Jack said, striding into Hammond's office. Like the rest of them, his exhaustion was etched on his face. His BDU's were creased and showed definite signs of having been slept in. The camouflage pattern didn't quite hide the stains of dirt and blood decorating the heavy material. Even his face was smudged. The water purification system had gone off line days before and what little bottled water they had was strictly rationed for drinking only. And even that would not last too much longer.

 

"What, Colonel?" Hammond looked up at his second, his broad face also creased with exhaustion and sorrow.

 

"Apparently some of the civilian population thinks we're all snug and happy in here. The guards at the front gate just called, they're under attack," Jack reported.

 

"The doors at the surface were built to withstand a nuclear attack, Colonel. They can take care of a few rioters."

 

"They could, sir…if someone hadn't have disabled the door," Jack said. "Sir, I think it's safe to say the secret of the stargate really doesn't matter right now, but we can't turn this base into the front lines of a warzone."

 

Hammond leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his hands over his grubby face. "We'll just seal it off."

 

"And do what? Turn this base into a crypt?" Jack exploded.

 

"No, Colonel, we'll try to hang on as long as we can. There's still a chance the Asgard could answer our plea. And if Major Carter and Doctor Fraiser are right and the answer is in the protein marker, we just need to hang on long enough for them to find a cure."

 

"There is no cure," Jack said coldly.

 

"Colonel, we don't know that. Doctor Fraiser was confident…"

 

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, tossing it on Hammond's desk. The OD green fabric was stained dark in places. "It doesn't work," Jack said.

 

"Jack?" Hammond asked sadly.

 

"It's not as fast as the others, but…there is no cure. Maybe it's a combination of naquadah and the protein…maybe it's something else we've come across over the years, but…whatever it is that's making Carter immune…that part's not catching. Sir, regardless of defending secrets, this base is likely that last safe haven. We should at least let the dying die peacefully not ripped apart by some mob."

 

George sighed heavily. "Very well, Colonel. Take whomever you need. Do whatever you have to to secure this base, up to and including sealing the mountain," he ordered gravely, knowing full well he was giving the man his last orders…ever.

 

With a solemn nod, Jack came to attention and saluted the man sharply. "It was an honor, General."

 

General Hammond stood up and returned the salute. "Likewise, Colonel." He held out his hand, which Jack took. "Good luck."

 

Jack left the room; barely sparing a glance at Sam who was walking down the corridor. "Sir?" she called.

 

"Later, Carter," he tossed over his shoulder as he made his way to the elevator.

 

Dismissing her CO's odd behavior, Sam knocked on the general's door. "Sir?"

 

"Come in, Major." She entered and stared at the man. He had an expression on his face that she'd never seen before. "What can I do for you?"

 

"Sir, I…General, where was the colonel going?" She asked abruptly, abandoning her mission. Something was wrong here, very wrong.

 

Hammond opened his mouth, then closed it as he changed his mind. She deserved the truth. "We've just got word that the surface is under attack. The colonel has gone up to secure the perimeter."

 

"But…"

 

"Major…Sam…it doesn't work," he said gravely.

 

"General?" Sam asked, her heart stopping.

 

"There is no cure. The colonel has gone up top to secure the facility…for however long we have left."

 

Sam stared at her leader as his words sank in. It hadn't worked. They were all dying. A riot. The colonel was sick and he was going off to stop a riot. They were going to seal the mountain…Oh my God….Cassie!

 

Without even asking for permission, she turned and ran from the office, not caring about the protocol she'd just breached. She burst through the stairwell door and ran up the cement stairs, adrenaline giving her strength. Exiting at Level 21, she ran down the corridor, trying to avoid the gathered personnel. Seeing her friend across the hall, she skidded to a halt, nearly knocking a lieutenant to the ground. "Janet…we have to go."

 

"Sam? What's wrong?" The doctor asked.

 

"The…the colonel. They're going to seal the mountain…Cassie," She gasped out, breathing heavily from her run.

 

"WHAT?" Janet dropped her chart and stared at the blond.

 

"The general gave the order. They're sealing the mountain. We have to get Cassie."

 

Janet stared helplessly around her. People lined the halls, some sitting, some lying on the floor. "Sam…I can't, I can't leave…"

 

"Go." A voice interrupted her. They turned to see Doctor Warner stepping out of the infirmary. He bent over and picked up the chart Janet had dropped. "We can take care of things here. Go to your daughter," he instructed.

 

"No. But your wife…" Janet protested.

 

He shook his head. "I can't help her now. You go be with Cassie," he urged. "And you better take weapons," he said to Sam. "Jenny told me things were getting violent out there."

 

With a grateful nod, the pair turned and picked their way back to the stairwell. It was easy enough to get weapons and they made their way to the surface, each carrying a rifle and sidearm and wearing a flak jacket.

 

Moving slowly, Sam exited at the surface, her ears picking up the distinctive sounds of weapons fire. Motioning for Janet to stay close, she approached the sand bag shrouded 'front lines' of the base. The colonel had chosen to make his stand just inside the mouth of the tunnel, thus meaning that his men only had to guard a relatively small area.

 

"What the hell are you doing up here?" he demanded as Sam and Janet approached. Sam could see no real signs of battle save a few spent rounds and the faint lingering smell of gunpowder.

 

"We need to get Cassie before you seal the mountain, sir," Sam said.

 

"Carter, do you have any idea what it's like out there?"

 

"Yes, sir. I think I do. Which is why we have these." She held up her P-90.

 

Jack's face softened and he stepped close, motioning for her to step away from Janet. "Carter," he said quietly. "Chances are she's already gone. You'll be risking your lives for nothing."

 

Sam shot Janet a look. "Maybe so, sir. But…if she's not, I can't let her die alone. I wouldn't before and I won't now," Sam insisted, her face set. She was more than prepared to deliberately disobey his orders. And he knew it.

 

"You have three hours," he said. "Doc's place is a thirty minute trip across town…you should be able to get there and back in an hour and a half."

 

Sam smiled and laid her hand on his arm. "Thank you, sir." She grabbed Janet's arm and headed towards one of the armored personnel vehicles that were parked at the gate.

 

"Carter!" She turned back. "0800 on the nose, Major," he warned.

 

"Yes, sir," she snapped him a salute. They climbed into the vehicle and started down the road.

 

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

“Rioters at the gate, he went to guard the base. He was dead when I got back.” She rubbed her hands over her face. Rubbed so hard Selmac had to take hold of her hands, she didn’t even seem to notice.

 

“Got back from where?” The more questions they asked the more they worried about her. Her speech was fragmented, disjointed, she wouldn’t volunteer any information, but so far she had answered all their questions without much of a fight.

 

“Had to put Cassie to bed.” Sam started shaking. Shaking so hard she had to hold on to the wall so as not to fall over.

 

“Sam?” She was staring wide eyed at a distant point on the wall, her mouth slightly open in horror only she could see, and her fingernails dug into the crystal  as though she was afraid she would fall. There would be no more questions today. “All right, Sam.” Jacob gently pulled his daughter away from the wall and led her to the bed. “Time to sleep.”

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

 The streets were hard to navigate, and Sam’s P-90 came in handy more than once as they made their way across town. Janet sat silently next to her. None of the radio stations were broadcasting anything other than the emergency broadcast message, so they drove in silence.

 

Janet practically jumped out of the car and ran into the house before Sam even completely stopped the vehicle. A flat hopeless cry of despair reached the blonde's ears before she made it to the door, and she knew, and something inside her shattered into a million pieces.

 

By the time she got inside, Janet was sitting against the couch, a red stain next to her, and the cold body of her daughter lying behind her. Sam approached slowly, silently praying she was wrong. That the stain was juice, that Cassie was alive and well and just sleeping.

 

Her eyes were open. That was pretty much all she could remember. She had been dead for so long, they couldn’t close her eyes. Janet coughed, not even bothering to cover her mouth.

 

“I talked to her yesterday,” she said when she finally caught her breath. It was the end, Sam could tell by now, the coughing, the lethargic movements. Those who lived longer seemed to die quicker. There were no more lingering deaths like Daniel. Just a few hours of coughs and weakness and that was that. “I didn’t even know she was sick.”

 

“Janet, what are we going to do?” The woman looked at Sam, her eyes dead, her body getting there.

 

“I’m going to sleep,” she said softly. “I’m tired, so I’m going to go to sleep. I’m sorry I couldn’t find a cure Sam. You’re not mad at me are you?” Sam just shook her head, preparing to accept another death on her hands.

 

“I’m not mad, Janet. Go to sleep now. It’s ok. You’ve worked very hard, you can rest now.” Janet coughed again, her body heaving with the effort. She added more blood to the congealed red pool in front of the couch and then she died. After a few moments, Sam reached over and closed her friend’s eyes.

 

“I’m sorry, Janet. So sorry.”

 

  <><><><><><>

 

It took her several hours to dig a hole big enough for the two of them. It wasn’t as deep as an official grave, but it would do. Janet went in first. Sam had brushed her hair, it looked neat, prim, perfect. The small woman was light in her arms, and the girl even lighter, but Sam was tired so it still took her an hour to carry the bodies from the living room to the back yard.

 

She lay them down gently, Janet first, then Cassandra. She wrapped the mother's arms around her daughter's and then, except for Cassie’s wide-open eyes, they looked like they were taking a nap. So that’s what allowed herself to believe. They were taking a nap outside because it was such a beautiful day. And she was covering them up with dirt so they wouldn’t be cold, or as a trick. Yeah a prank, and won’t they be surprised when they wake up covered in earth. She was so involved in her fantasy that she didn’t notice that with every handful of dirt she shoveled over her friend’s bodies that something inside her disappeared. Or if she did, she pretended not to, because frankly, it just didn’t matter.

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

She woke up in silence, soul-searing sorrow washing over her like a wave then receding into relief. It was just a dream, no one was dead, and she hadn’t killed the whole world with her stupid mistake. She’d tell Daniel, he loved interpreting dreams. He’d never tell her what it meant, just how different it would be if she had been raised in a long gone civilization. Then he’d get that glint in his blue eyes, blue like the crystal in front of her, and he’d . . . blue crystal. The Tok’ra. She closed her eyes tight as the peace vanished like a cool summer breeze on a frightfully hot day. Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead . . . the word filled her mind screaming at her. Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead.

 

She whimpered and got out of bed; there would be no more sleep for her anytime soon.

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

The next thing she was aware of was the sound of birds. That was one good thing about the virus, she guessed. It was apparently engineered to effect humans only. Every animal seemed immune. That would make the greenies happy she thought, mankind was now the ultimate endangered species. Or more accurately, the newest extinct species.

 

Rubbing her hand across her sleep encrusted eyes; she pushed herself up, staring at her surroundings. Where was she? Janet. Janet's backyard. She picked up a handful of loose dirt and let it run through her fingers. That's right. They were asleep, they were together. The grass would grow. Janet had such a lovely yard. Such a peaceful place. They'd had such fun here, she, Janet and Cassie. She never realized how special her friend was until now. Janet had never let her insecurities rule her life. Anyone else would have been jealous of Sam's bond with the girl, would have tried to keep her away. But Janet hadn't done that. She'd welcomed Sam's presence and her help. She hadn't feared their bond, but cherished it, allowed it to grow. Maybe she knew Cassie was likely the closest thing to a child Sam would ever have. Maybe she hadn't had any motives. There were days when this house, this yard, were a warm, welcoming place. Not like her own little house, this place was a home. It wasn't like the mountain. The mountain. They were going to seal the mountain.

 

Suddenly frantic, she tore at her sleeve digging for her watch. She was too late. She'd missed her deadline by hours. No, she thought. Would he have sealed all the entrances? There were escape tunnels. No one gets left behind. Maybe he'd held the back door open for her.

 

Getting to her feet, she stumbled towards the back of the house, barely remembering to snatch up her P-90. She staggered through the building, her eyes skittering over the blood stains, the rumpled rugs. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but getting back.

She had to get back.

 

Walking through the front door, she stopped short. A half dozen people surrounded her hum vee. Raising her rifle, she fired a shot into the air. "Back off!" she warned.

 

Instead of being intimidated, the men turned and started towards her. Recognizing the thug mentality and seeing the tell tale smears of blood on their faces, she opened fire.

The men fell in a hail of bullets, the reports shattering the calm of the morning.

 

Her hands shaking from a combination of adrenaline and exhaustion, she stepped over the dead, climbing into the hum-vee and driving off.

 

Ignoring traffic laws, she sped through the empty streets intent only upon her goal.

Reaching the mountain, she screeched to a halt, her eyes scanning the tunnel entrance for the colonel and his men. It hadn't been sealed. "Colonel!" she yelled as she got out of the vehicle.

 

She could see signs of a battle. Civilian bodies lay upon the ground; each of them riddled with gunshot wounds. The rioters must have returned after she and Janet had left, likely encouraged by the approaching darkness. "Colonel!" she yelled again, this time startling a raven that was feeding on one of the corpses.

 

She'd seen a lot of scavengers, both on her way to and from Janet's house. Flocks of ravens and vultures filled the streets, even some bald eagles lured from the safety of the wilderness by the overwhelming stench of death. The air in the city literally hummed with the buzz of billions of flies, gorging themselves on the rich bounty. She'd even seen a few cats and dogs, likely family pets, used to humans for their sustenance, now using their former masters for survival. It really was a dog eat dog world.

 

Slowly approaching the tunnel that was partly shrouded by sandbags and barricades, she stepped over her first military casualty. Ferretti. She knelt down and closed his vacant eyes. She should have known he'd be up here. He and the colonel shared a bond like no other, being the last survivors of the Abydos mission.

 

She stepped over more bodies, some she recognized, others unknown to her. When the SGC first started she'd literally known each and every person. Now they'd grown so large she often found herself working with strangers. Sargent Johnson, Lieutenant Barber, Major Coburn, Griff…she ticked off the names as she stepped over the men.

 

Her eyes settled on a solitary figure wearing an all too familiar baseball cap. "Oh Colonel," she whispered, approaching the still figure. He'd waited for her. He hadn't sealed her out.

 

She knelt beside him, the gaping hole in his chest telling her all she needed to know. Laying her hand gently on his cheek, she remembered their first meeting. Thank goodness things had gotten better from there. He was the best CO she'd ever had. Allowing her the freedom to do what she needed, but knowing when to rein her in and keep her from really screwing stuff up. He'd trusted her implicitly, often putting his life and the lives of others in her hands based solely upon her ideas. From the first time he'd stared at her cleavage in that stupid dress to the last time he'd brought her coffee at 0200, he'd been a rock, a grounding force that often pushed her to her limits, but was always there to catch her should she fall.

 

She slid her hand down to his neck and pulled out his dog tags, snapping the chain to release one of them. "It was an honor serving with you, sir," she whispered as the tag came loose. She reached into her pocket and pulled out another necklace. Janet's dog tags that she'd taken off the woman before she buried her. With steady fingers, she threaded the bit of metal onto the chain.

 

Looking down, she saw the detonator clutched in his slack hands. Setting the chain aside, she picked it up. 04:45 it read. Making her decision, she deactivated the timer. She could always re-start it. Sticking the device into her pocket, she quickly removed the dog tags from the rest of the dead. Her task done, she picked up a zat that was lying on the ground and efficiently disposed of all the bodies, military and civilian. Leaving them here would only draw the scavengers closer.

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

“Sam?” She rarely answered to her name anymore. “Sammy, remember what we were talking about yesterday?”

 

“Jack.” When he had left she was sleeping peacefully on the bed, when he had returned she was back on the floor. He had given her some food which she had pushed away. Just the thought of eating made her stomach cramp.

 

“That’s right. Can you tell me what happened next?”

 

“Started to clean up.”

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

Her task finished, she descended into the mountain, stopping on each level to dispose of the dead. Before she disintegrated a body, she stripped it of its tags, adding each one to her chain.

 

By the time she reached Level 11, her grim jewelry was nearly too heavy to carry, the chain almost filled to capacity. The power supply on her zat was also drained. She'd have to come back for the rest. But first she had to report in.

 

She climbed down to Level 28, bypassing the levels in between. As she approached Level 27, she could hear the distinctive snap whine of a zat. Had the base been breached?

 

As she got closer and closer to the control room, the sound got louder. Zat, Zat, Zat. Three shots in a row. She came around the corner to see General Hammond shoot Sargent Davis once, twice, thrice, the man vanishing in a burst of blue energy. She stopped and raised her hands as the man aimed his weapon at her. He frowned, then lowered his weapon. "You're AWOL," he growled, walking past her.

 

"Yes, sir," Sam said, following him up the stairs to his office.

 

"How did you get in? Colonel O'Neill should have sealed the entrance," he said, setting down his zat and sitting in his chair.

 

Sam drew the heavy chain of tags out of her pocket. "He…he's gone, sir." She laid the strand on his blotter. "They're all gone. How many are left alive down here?" she asked.

 

He gave her a sharp look, then leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk. "You, Teal'c, and me," he reported, picking up the dog tags. The stressed chain broke and bits of metal clattered to the desktop, a few falling onto the floor. With a heavy sigh, the older man pulled his desk drawer open and pushed the tags into it. Sam could hear them clatter against others in the drawer. Hundreds, he had to have hundreds of them in there.

 

"General, what are we going to do?" she asked, sitting in one of the chairs.

 

He ignored her for a second, intent upon putting all the tags into his drawer. She saw him pause, reading the names. He held one of them up. "Doctor Fraiser?" he asked. Silently she shook her head. He put it with the others. "I spent all last night on this phone." He pointed at the red phone. "There's no one left. As far as I can tell Major, you and Teal'c are the only survivors."

 

"But, sir…"

 

"Sam, you two are the only survivors," he insisted a defeated look on his face. "I am hereby turning command of this facility over to you. You and Teal'c…do what you think is right. I’m not ordering you to stay here. You and he can leave; there are plenty of uninhabited planets out there. Or not leave. My last orders to you are simple. Live or die…however you choose. Your fate is your own." He reached into another of the drawers and pulled out a piece of paper. "Here are all the codes and passwords. This is your facility, Major. Do with it as you wish."

 

She took the paper from him, her heart breaking at the finality in his words. "General?"

 

"It's not your fault, Major. None of this is," he said suddenly.

 

Sam shook her head. "Sir, I sent the artifact off. I didn't even look at it. I…"

 

"You were following orders. Orders I gave you. The ultimate responsibility rests solely on me."

 

"No. General…I should have…"

 

"Life is full of should have's…they don't change a single thing. I am taking full responsibility for this incident…and it says so in my report."

 

"No, sir…"

 

A sudden fit of coughing seized him and she watched in horror as he doubled over, blood trickling from between his fingers. Instead of abating, the coughing grew worse, forcing him from the chair and to the floor. Jumping to her feet, she hurried around the desk, reaching out to comfort the man. The coughing stopped and he lay there, gasping for breath. "Please…" he whispered.

 

She stood up and picked up his zat. She knelt beside him and placed a gentle kiss on his head.  "It was an honor, sir, " she whispered.  Standing back she pressed the trigger once…twice…thrice.

 

She stood there and stared at the void, the place where he'd lain. He was gone. It was as if he'd never existed. Not a trace of him remained save a bloodstain on the floor.

She let the zat fall from nerveless fingers. Teal'c. She had to find Teal'c.

 

She turned, struggling to see through the tears in her eyes. She made her way out of the office, more from memory than anything else. The briefing room was dark, the only illumination the emergency lighting spilling from the gate room and the lamp on General Hammond's desk. The generators were running low. She'd noticed that before she'd left.

 

She stared out the large glass window at the Stargate, standing silent in the gateroom. It had been her dream, her ultimate fantasy to go through it. That device had brought her her greatest dreams…and her biggest sorrows.

 

She'd seen the wonders of alien worlds. Things that people only dreamed of. She'd been so thrilled, so proud to be here. The second she'd stood on that ramp, ready to leave earth for the first time, she knew she'd never work anywhere else. Nothing anyone could do could take this from her. She'd beg, plead, pull strings, anything to stay here.

 

And now she'd give anything to take it all back. What if? What if Daniel hadn't figured out how to open it? What if she hadn't found that statue and brought it back? What if she hadn't ignored the colonel's orders and not gotten blended with Jolinar? What if the Nox had just let them die? What if she'd just ignored the little statue and sent the NID something, anything else? So many 'what if's'. So many places and ways it could have all been avoided. So many decisions…so many lost opportunities. So many lives. Lives she'd snuffed out. She'd once called the Stargate humanity's greatest endeavor…it was really humanity's greatest folly.

 

It didn't matter what the general said, she knew the truth. The ultimate responsibility rested solely with her. She'd killed a planet. Was there even a word for what she'd done? In a way, she should be glad everyone else was gone. They'd come and get her if they weren't. They'd lock her up and throw away the key.

 

She heard a sound behind her and her heart stopped. Oh God. They'd come. They were going to come and get her and lock her away. Suddenly terrified, she spun and raced across the room, giving the dark figure a shove. He had just reached the top of the darkened stairs and fell backwards, his hands flying out in a desperate bid to stop his descent. She fell to her knees as she heard him tumble down the stairs, the metal grating clanging with each impact.

 

She could hear him grunt and then a sudden outcry. That voice. She knew that voice. Oh my God. She stumbled down the stairs, nearly tripping in her haste to reach the bottom.

 

In the faint light from the computer screens, she could see him. Teal'c. He was lying awkwardly at the base of the stairs and she was forced to step over him before kneeling at his side. "Teal'c. Oh my God. I'm so sorry. Are you all right?"

 

"No," he gasped out.

 

"Just a minute. I'll get a flashlight." She left him and made her way over to a small cabinet where they kept emergency supplies. Finding a flashlight, she snapped it on. "Oh God," she whispered as the light played over him. He was lying at the base of the steps his head at an impossible angle. "Teal'c." She knelt back beside him.

 

"My neck is broken," he said calmly.

 

"Yeah."

 

"I can not feel the rest of my body."

 

"Junior…Junior will fix it."

 

He closed his eyes. "Perhaps. General Hammond?"

 

"He's…gone."

 

"It is as well. I carried out his last order. No one remains alive within this facility."

 

"What? What do you mean?"

 

"General Hammond ordered my to deliver coup de grace to everyone in this complex and then to dispose of the corpses. I have just completed that task."

 

"That doesn't make any sense. We could have found something…maybe the Asgard know something…"

 

"Major Carter…there is no cure to this disease. Euthanasia is a mercy. They will not die alone. They will not suffer. They died with dignity," he said softly.

 

"We need to get you off this floor. I don't know how long it will take Junior to fix you." Sam looked at the massive body of her friend. It was difficult to move Teal'c when there were several able-bodied corpsmen around. By herself, it would be nearly impossible.

 

"We have something to do first."

 

"What?"

 

"We must warn our allies not to come down here. We can not risk another race contracting this virus and spreading it."

 

"The gate's closed. No one can come."

 

"They will come in ships. Eventually the Tok'ra will question our silence. There are teams off world who will contact our allies and seek assistance. We must warn them not to approach."

 

"How? We have no power. The generator's nearly gone, I don't think there's a power plant within 100 miles that's still operational. We have no way to get a signal out."

 

"You have your Naquadah reactor. Will it not generate sufficient power for a radio transmission?"

 

"Aah…sure I guess."

 

"Perhaps you should bring one here and use it to power the radio. I can record message in Goa'uld and you one in your language. We can then protect other planets from our fate," he suggested.

 

"Why don't I get you somewhere more comfortable first? Then I'll work on the radio."

 

"Major Carter…do not concern yourself with my welfare. Either my symbiote will repair the damage or it will not. The warning cannot wait. Even now, it is possible that rescuers could be approaching this planet. Go. Get the reactor. I shall…wait here," he said, meeting her eyes.

 

With a nod and what she hoped was a comforting hand on his head, she got up and left him. Using the flashlight, she carefully made her way to her lab. The reactor was right where she'd left it, sitting on the edge of the bench where she'd put it just a week before. A week. How much had changed in a week. Unbidden the lyrics to a song popped into her head. 'It's the end of the world as we know it.' She started to laugh at the absurdity of it all. 'It's the end of the world as we know it.' Sure was. Ragnarok as the Cimmerians would say. Armageddon…without Bruce Willis to save the day. The Second Coming…had she missed that part? Surely if that had happened she'd have heard about it?

 

Sliding to the floor, she thought of all the legends she'd heard. The Second Coming…wasn't there supposed to be a white buffalo somewhere? Had there been signs? Had there been warnings that she'd missed? Aah well…that's what she got for not paying attention. What had Teal'c called it…Tel'ak. Dead world. The Tau'ri were now Tel'ak.

 

Everyone was gone and she was in charge. That told you the sorry state of the world if she was the boss. When the president called she'd have to answer the …the president was dead too. So were the vice-president and their staffs. Holy cow, the US now had its first woman president. Too bad there was no one else around to care. Teal'c couldn't be president, he wasn’t native born…Teal'c. She had to get back to Teal'c. How could she have forgotten?

 

Pushing herself to her feet, she reached out and picked up the reactor. General Hammond had entrusted her with the care of this facility. She had to make sure no one else died.

 

The reactor was heavier than she'd remembered and she ended up dragging it down the stairs and through the halls back to the control room. She pulled it up the short flight of steps, falling to the floor when she over balanced. "Teal'c?" She crawled over to her teammate still lying where he'd fallen.

 

"Major Carter." He slowly opened his eyes.

 

"How are you doing?"

 

"I must meditate to increase the chances of the symbiote repairing the damage," he whispered.

 

"OK. You meditate. I have the reactor." He closed his eyes in response and she lingered a moment, then turned and dragged the reactor back to the console. It wasn't easy to hook the power supply into the machine using only a flashlight. Several times she had to stop and rest for a moment when her eyes got tired and her fingers clumsy. A couple of hours later, she made the last connection and sighed in relief as the console hummed into life. She'd done it.

 

Pulling herself out from under the console, she made her way over to Teal'c who was still meditating. "Teal'c." She put a hand on his shoulder, then cursing herself, moved it to the side of his head. "Teal'c?" He sluggishly opened his eyes. "I did it. It works," she said proudly.

 

"We must record the message," his voice was harsh and rasping.

 

"I think I can get you up to the microphone…"

 

"No. Do you have a recording device?" She nodded and got up, finding a small tape recorder and returning with it. She held it in front of his mouth and he spoke the warning. She listened, recognizing a few of the words. She should have known more. She should have made Daniel teach her more Goa'uld rather than relying on him to always be there to translate. He stopped, signaling he was finished and she turned off the recorder.

 

She set it aside and turned back to him. "Let me go find a gurney…"

 

"No. Record your message and start to broadcast."

 

"Teal'c, we need to take care of you."

 

"There is no need."

 

"Look, I know Junior does a great job, but fixing a broken neck will take some time…"

 

"My symbiote can not repair the damage," he said quietly.

 

"What! No. Junior can fix it. Junior always fixes it."

 

"Not this time. Before I leave this world I wish to know it is safeguarded. I must know that no other world will suffer the same fate as Earth."

 

"Teal'c…"

 

"DO IT!" he ordered with uncustomary gruffness. Startled, she did as he ordered, first playing his recording into the computer's memory, then recording one of her own. She typed a few commands and set the radio to broadcast an unending loop.

 

Finished, she turned off the monitor to save power and turned back to her friend. "There. Satisfied?"

 

"Indeed."

 

"Good. Now you can stop with all this dying crap. The stairs are going to be hard, but I think I can get you into one of the rooms on level twenty-seven."

 

"Major Carter…"

 

"Maybe if I go up to the infirmary and get a back board. That'll slide right up the stairs…"

 

"Major Carter…"

 

"If I only had another reactor we could power one of the elevators for a bit…"

 

"Samantha," he said, breaking off her rambling.

 

"Yeah?" She knelt by his side.

 

"Dal Shaka Mel," he whispered.

 

"NO. You will not shaka on me," she insisted.

 

"Dal Shaka Mel," he whispered again then he went still.

 

"No. NO! NO!" She screamed, pulling him towards her. She bent over and tilted his head back, ignoring the sickening creaks and cracking in his neck. Breathing deep, she breathed into his mouth, seeing his chest rise out of the corner of her eye. See…it was working. He was wrong. When he didn’t respond, she breathed again, this time harder. She scooted over and placed her hands on his chest, leaning into the compressions with all her body weight. She breathed again, then pushed in on his chest again and again until she was too exhausted to continue.

 

Still he didn't move. She knelt over him and watched in fascination as drops of water splashed onto his chest. Was it raining? Where was the water coming from? She stared then something caught her eye.

 

Turning her head, she saw his T-shirt move. As she watched, the fabric bucked and trembled. With a sibilant hiss she saw the symbiote he carried worm its way out from under his shirt. It crawled back across his chest, trailing slime behind it. The creature reared up, its small fins spread wide. In the darkness of the room, its eyes glowed an angry red. She watched almost hypnotized as it swayed from side to side honing in on her. It was looking straight at her, its quadra-fanged jaw open wide. It wanted her. She could see the longing in its eyes. It wanted to have her. It expected her to take it, shelter it, and give it her body to use.

 

How dare it? How dare it expect her to care for it when it let Teal'c die? It lunged for her and she struck out with a speed she didn’t know she possessed.

 

She grabbed the creature, using both hands to hold it securely. "You bastard," she whispered. "You let him die. You could have saved him. YOU LET HIM DIE!" She screamed as the snake wriggled and hissed in protest.  Filled with a rage she'd never experienced before, she smashed the symbiote into the floor, stunning it. She took it by the tail and swung it again, and again, and again. Each strike left a small blue streak of blood on the gray concrete floor. She could hear the creature's delicate bones break and crumble and still she swung. Tiny pieces of it broke off and flew across the room, some splatting against the glass and sliding to the floor with an otherworldly squeal and still she swung.

 

With each impact she whispered a name, remembered a face. With each blow she struck out against the nameless foe who had killed her planet until she could swing no more. Her hand came into harsh contact with the floor and she recoiled in pain, staring her abused palm.

 

All she was holding was a tiny fragment of the creature, a few inches of its tail. She'd killed it. The last sentient creature save herself on this planet and she'd murdered it.

 

Feeling a wave of revulsion she threw the gory bit away from her and stared at the room. It was covered in blood; she was covered in blood. Blue gore streaked her body like some horrific war paint. Murderer…she was a murderer. She'd literally murdered every last intelligent life form on Earth. Except her.

 

<*><*><*><*><*>

 

Sam's monotone recital trailed off and she sat on the ledge, calmly staring at the far wall. "Maybe I don't deserve a symbiote?" she whispered.

 

"Why do you think that?" Selmac asked, sitting beside her.

 

"I killed him."

 

"Teal'c's symbiote would have sought you as a host."

 

"I had control of him. I could have sustained him. We've done it before."

 

"You would have kept him as a…pet?"

 

"Selmac, Junior wasn't a gold fish or something. He was sentient. He…he was you thousands of years ago. I didn't even try to…restrain him. I killed him in cold blood."

 

"You've killed symbiotes before. What makes this one different?"

 

"He…"

Way to go Junior.

_  
_

_It must have filtered the oxygen from the water and used it to sustain Teal'c_

_My symbiote makes me immune to Hathor's wiles_

 

 

"He was part of us, of SG-1. He…he saved us, saved Earth so many times. It's ironic, our ace in the hole was really the enemy in our midst."

 

"Life is often ironic," Selmac said, laying her arm across Sam's shoulders. She relaxed into the embrace. "I shall speak with the Council. Even if they deny your request, you are welcome among the Tok'ra. We do however feel that you would benefit from some time away."

 

Sam pulled herself from Selmac's arms and looked into her father's eyes. "What?"

 

"Sam, I agree with Selmac on this. You need some time, time to deal with this, to get your head together."

 

"No. Dad, I…"

 

"Kid," he interrupted. "When was the last time you ate? Or slept through the night?"

 

"I'll be fine if I just have something to do," She protested.

 

"You mean an excuse to bury yourself in your work so you can just ignore this? It won't work, not this time."

 

"Dad…"

 

"Sam, I've been there. You're wound too tight. You need to take some time, relax, and grieve. You need to find your center again. Even if the Council will allow you to be blended, I won't."

 

"That's not fair."

 

"Yes, it is. Hon, trust me. It's hard enough to share your head with a total stranger, but it'll be almost impossible to be blended with someone else if you're arguing all the time. You are taking the next month off. And no arguments. Now, do you know a friendly planet or would you like Selmac to pick one out for you?"

 

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

Thirty-four days later, Jacob exited the Stargate, stumbling a bit in the dark.

 _'I have heard of such planets in the universe, but have never known one to be occupied,_ ' Selmac said.

 

 _'Sam said something about them having a unique atmosphere.  Something that keeps both light and dark sides temperate_.'

'Did she also tell you how to find the city?'

 

 _'You were there,'_ Jacob reminded. _'Or were you day dreaming again?'_

_'I do not day dream.'_

_'Oh yeah? Then what's with the sudden fascination with big fins?'_

 

 _'Jacob!_ '

 

_'Oh come on, Sel. Admit it. Size does matter.'_

 

_'I am not going to justify that with a response.'_

 

_'Sore loser.'_

 

 _'Human._ '

 

_'Snake.'_

 

The good natured bantering faded as the pair made their way through the darkened forest towards the open fields and the terminator between light and dark. Selmac knew the reason for her host's sudden flare of gallows humor. She shared more of his feelings than he realized and she knew exactly how trepidacious he was about seeing his daughter for the first time in over a month. There had been times in the past several weeks when she'd almost had to restrain him from coming to visit Samantha.

 

When Sam had picked out the planet, Jacob had at first balked. The father in him would have preferred her on a world under Tok'ra control, where someone he knew could keep an eye on her.

 

But she'd insisted upon going to the Land of Light. She said she felt comfortable there. Selmac just hoped the woman had found some peace in the last month.

 

Unaware of his symbiote's musings, Jacob made his way to the city. As he approached it, he was again struck by the serenity of the planet. At first he'd feared that she was clinging to the past, but the friendly and welcoming attitude of Tupelo and his people soon put his mind at ease.

 

The leader had been honestly distressed, nearly dropping the grandson he'd been playing with on his lap when Jacob had told him of Earth's demise.

 

In an incredibly unselfish gesture, he had immediately offered sanctuary to any survivors.

 

 _'They did change things for the better,'_ Selmac said after hearing the whole story of the curing of the Touched.

 

 _'I know. But they could have done so much more. I know strategically they weren't the best actions, but Earth has killed more goa'uld in the past four years than we have in millennia._ '

_'Yes. And the current state of galactic chaos is making things most difficult.'_

 

'Face it, Sel. If they weren't stirring up trouble, we'd still be quietly gathering Intel rather than doing something. They made us get off our asses for once.'

 

 _'Yes. And look at what it got them,_ ' she quipped back.

 

Ignoring his symbiote, Jacob approached the house. It was a medium-sized single story structure made of stone. It reminded Jacob vaguely of the tiny bungalows the Air Force has the nerve to call base housing. "Sam? Drey'auc?" he called, pushing the ajar door open wider. Hearing a gleeful whoop, he instead headed towards the back of the house. Drey'auc's home was on the outskirts of town and adjacent to a large field.

 

He could see three figures playing in the tall grass. One was Ry'ac. Even without the dark coloring, Jacob would recognize the boy. He had his father's proud bearing. A dark haired woman he remembered as Melosha was cheering on her young son as he was chased in circles by Ry'ac.

 

Slightly alarmed, he scanned the area and breathed a sigh of relief when he spied the blonde figure sitting on a rock, watching the trio play. Even from this distance he could see that the past month had done his daughter a world of good. The gaunt, traumatized creature he'd brought from Earth was gone. Looking at her now, he found it hard to believe all she'd been through.

 

"She looks well." Jacob turned to see Drey'auc standing by him. "But her dreams still haunt her."

 

"Drey'auc. How are you?"

 

"We are well, thank you."

 

Jacob turned his attention back at the quartet. "Thank you for letting her stay here."

 

"It was our pleasure. She and her friends helped Teal'c save Ry'ac's life. I was saddened to hear that Earth had fallen."

 

"As were we all," Jacob replied. Her sentiment was much the same as he'd heard from Kasuf when he'd traveled to Abydos to inform the man of his son-in-law's passing. Rumors of Earth's demise were running rampant, various goa'uld torn between claiming responsibility and denying all evolvement.

 

"How did he die?" she asked abruptly.

 

"What?"

 

"She won't tell me and I don’t want to push her. How did my husband die? Surely his primta would have afforded him some protection from the disease?"

 

"It did. He survived the outbreak."

 

"Then how…"

 

"It was an accident," he said. "His symbiote could not repair the damage." Jacob glossed over Sam's involvement in Teal'c's death. Knowing the truth would do nothing but cause both of them more pain.

 

'That happens," she said. "Some primta will nearly kill themselves to save their jaffa while others seek new jaffa upon the slightest injuries. Jacob…Selmac, I wish to ask a favor of you." She turned and looked him in the eyes.

 

"Of course. How may we assist you?" Selmac said.

 

"Ry'ac." She turned and glanced at the boy. "My son's primta will reach maturity in a few years. Now that we are outcasts…"

 

"When his primta reaches maturity it will either leave him or take him as a host."

 

"Yes," Drey'auc confirmed sadly.

 

"I can make no promises. Sometimes symbiotes are easy to find, other times most difficult. But we will make every effort to find Ry'ac another symbiote. We will of course want possession of the mature goa'uld."

 

"You wish to gain access to its secrets,"

 

"Yes."

 

"It is a child of Apophis."

 

"And with Apophis rising in power what that goa'uld knows could be invaluable," Selmac said, really thinking about the wealth of knowledge the innocent boy was carrying around in his belly. As a child of Apophis, Ry'ac's symbiote would contain the genetic knowledge of the system lord, and all that came before him. Such knowledge would be most beneficial to the Tok'ra.

 

"Teal'c gave it to him."

 

"Teal'c?"

 

"Ry'ac was dying. Teal'c gave Ry'ac his own symbiote to save his life. I think my husband would be most pleased to know he may have delivered the demise of Apophis into the hands of the Tok'ra," she said. "I will talk to Ry'ac. When his time is near we will contact you. Even if you can not find him a new primta, he will die content with delivering his father's gift."

 

They stood there; watching for a few moments until Melosha noticed their presence and pointed it out to her companions. She called out to the others and Sam hurried forward, taking a moment to help Melosha with her son.

 

"Dad." Sam embraced him tightly.

 

"Hey, kiddo." He hugged her back, relieved to feel a bit more flesh on her bones.

 

"I thought you would be here a few days ago," she chided gently.

 

"You know how work is," he excused not wanting to tell her the truth, not quite yet.

 

"Jacob, Selmac. Hello," Melosha greeted, her son on her hip.

 

"Melosha. And hello, Liander." Jake reached out and tousled the boy's brown hair.

 

"Will you be staying long? My father would love to have you for evening meal?"

 

"Thank you, but we cannot, " Selmac said. "We merely came to speak with Samantha."

 

"As you wish. However, should you change your mind, you are always welcome at my father's table."

 

"Thank you." Melosha left as Drey'auc gathered her son close.

 

"You are welcome at our table as well, " she invited.

 

"Thank you Drey'auc, Ry'ac. I just need to speak with Sam, then we have to get back." With a nod she walked away, leaving Sam and Jacob alone in the clearing.

 

"Dad? What's up?"

 

He pulled her towards a large rock and bade her to sit. Joining her he paused for a second then nodded as Selmac took over. "Two of our operatives were recently rescued from Cronos. They had been held for several days and not treated well. Asha says Kaber and Renlo will survive; however, Linra is not doing well. The chances are good that Atalaya will need a new host soon. Samantha, do you still wish to become a host?" Sam didn't respond, staring at her hands lying in her lap."Sam?" Jacob asked concerned.

 

"So soon?"

 

"Soon? A month ago you were mad at me because we didn’t have a symbiote. Have you changed your mind?"

 

"I…"

 

"Kid. You don’t have to do this. You can stay here. Drey'auc likes having you around. Tupelo adores you. You’ve done a lot in the past four years. No one, absolutely no one, would blame you if you stayed here, retired."

 

She raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Retired?"

 

"And there's the kids to consider."

 

"Kids?"

 

"Teal'c's son…Daniel's son."

 

"Liander?"

 

"Ah come on. Don't tell me you can't see it. His hair, those killer blue eyes. I've seen Melosha's husband. That's not his kid," Jacob insisted.

 

"He's as curious and smart as his dad," she agreed with a sigh. Liander had been a pleasant surprise when she'd first arrived. True, the SGC did have diplomatic relations with Tupelo, and they knew that Melosha had had a son, but no one thought that the boy's biological father had been anyone but Melosha's husband.

 

"You could stay here, help with the kids, maybe…have a couple of your own," he suggested.

 

"Dad!" she protested, her cheeks blushing.

 

He laughed, backing off. "Ok. I guess what I'm saying is you've given four years of your life to this, not to mention all the work you did before the gate opened. Earth is gone, but you can start over here, or on another planet. There's no rule saying you have to keep fighting until it kills you."

 

"Dad, you…Selmac's been at this for millennia…"

 

"Exactly. We've been fighting the goa'uld for centuries. And it may take centuries more. And …don't take this wrong, you've done some great things, but…"

 

"The fight existed before I started and will continue on just fine without me," she finished.

 

"Yeah." He put an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close, kissing her gently on the top of her head. "Linra may still recover. And if she doesn't, we can find Atalaya another host." He stood up. "I have to get back. I'll warn the sentries, if you decide to come they'll contact me. If not…that's fine too. You just…you do what YOU want to do. That's what's important to me," he said earnestly.

 

She nodded and stood up, giving him a hug. "I…I just need to think a bit."

 

"Well, you know where we are." After another quick hug, he turned and left. Sam sat back down, deep in thought.

 

<><><><><> 

 

When the sentinels informed him of her arrival, Jacob felt a ball of lead suddenly appear in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't afraid of her decision, whether it was to live her out life alone or join the Tok'ra, but rather her reasons for it.  
  
She would have to live with the memories for the rest of her life anyway. Her choice was how she would live that life. If she chose the path of revenge she would never move past the grief and anger that simmered within her. If she went out in a crusade of vengeance she would die, but if they tried to keep her from going, her own emotions would kill her anyway. It was a lose/lose situation and yet he would not, could not, blame her for going down that road.  
  
The desert was silent except for the haunted sound of the wind blowing across the dunes. The sun was low on the horizon, paining the dunes in dramatic shadows.

  
Jacob stood behind his daughter, waiting for her to speak, to turn, to react in some way to his presence.  
  
“I want to go home," she said. "I want to curl up on the couch and watch bad movies until I fall asleep. I want to wake up to the phone ringing and General Hammond on the line, telling me I'm needed back at the mountain, or Daniel rambling on about his latest translation, or Colonel O’Neill . . . Jack, asking me to go fishing with him just to hear me say no. I want to take Teal'c to the movies and watch him eat three boxes of milk duds and force me to explain the movie to him. Mostly, I just want to wake up from this nightmare once and for all." She turned to him then, and he resisted the urge to reach out to her. It was not what she needed at that moment. "But isn't not a dream, is it? And home, whatever it was to begin with, is gone." She walked forward and he crushed her to his chest and she linked her arms behind his back and held on for dear life as grief, finally good clean healthy grief, flowed from within her like the tears that streamed down her cheeks.  
  
In her father's arms on an alien desert planet, Sam started to mourn her friends' lives, instead of the death of a planet. And when she was done she felt calm, clean and pleasantly hollow. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs and feeling her body for the first time in weeks.  
  
Jacob kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, but didn't let her go, and for that she was grateful.  
  
“All the teams that had been trapped off world managed to get to the Alpha site. There were some injuries, but we sent someone with a healing device to help them out." Sam nodded her thanks. "From what I hear, the place is in complete chaos. Civilian scientists, military personnel . . . no one knows exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. Lots of conflicts and confusion with little resolutions." Sam sniffed. "They could probably use some help, you know. Someone who's both a scientist and a soldier. Just to bridge the gaps.  
  
Sam laughed, surprised at how easily it came to her. "Subtle, Dad," she said, then sighed. "You're right, though. If nothing else I owe them to at least try and help. And I owe it to Ry'ac and Liander. Maybe they can grow up in a nicer universe." This time Jacob nodded in response. "I still want to be blended though. I was the only person alive on the planet . . . I never want to be that alone again."  
  
Jacob smiled and allowed Selmac control. "The Tok'ra are proud and honored to have you, Samantha." They crossed the dunes to the transport rings. Just as they reached the site, Sam paused and looked at the sky. It was sunset, the western horizon just starting to darken as the sun prepared to make its flamboyant exit. The day was done. Her last day alone. The next time she saw this sun, she'd have a symbiote in her head.

 

Whatever they did, however long they were together, she knew she'd never be alone again.  
  
~Fin~

 


	2. Primordium

Primordium  
By  
Adi and Denise

* * *

Disclaimer Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

* * *

By some fluke of time and nature, or maybe by design of some long gone and forgotten civilization, the sun rose at the exact position of the great stone circle that stood in the middle of the desert, defiant of the wind and passing days. It did not care about the majestic view that the dawn's sun shining through it's center caused. Nor did it particularly care that the pinkish-yellow light suddenly turned to blue liquid or about the woman who seemed to melt out of it. It was not interested in her story or her pain and even if it was, there wasn't much it could do about it. After all it was just a stone circle, a means of transportation . . . a plot device.

But had the large stone circle been interested in the woman's story, and had it been able to ask, if not her than the sand which she walked upon, if not the sand then the air which she breathed quietly, if not the air then the sun which shined on her back; if it had been interested and it if had been able to ask then the great stone circle might have heard this.

"Her name is Samantha Carter. She has killed gods. She had helped save many people. She treasures and is treasured by friends across the galaxy. She carries the weight of a dead world on her shoulders. And right now she is going to the Tok'ra to report that once again a decision has not been made."

"What decision?" It would have asked, if it could, if it cared.

"The decision," it would have heard, "to fight, or to live."

<><><><><>  
  
Martouf lay atop the dune; his attention turned more inward than outwards. There was little in the barren, sandy wasteland to capture his interest. Occasionally a lizard would crawl by or one of the carnivorous spiders that inhabited the dunes. But most often he had nothing but the howl of the wind and the chatter of Lantash to keep him company. Surface sentry duty was a necessary, but boring assignment. He knew of more than one Tok'ra who were guilty of smuggling up a game or a document recorder, just to pass the time.

Taking advantage of a second consciousness, he let his attention wander, depending on Lantash to keep watch. He slipped back into the warm embrace of his memories. He could feel the soft warmth of Rosha's skin beneath his. The sweet smell of her hair as he threaded his hands through the silky strands. The gentle sound of her drowsy mutterings and sighs.

There had been no one else in his bed since the night Rosha and Jolinar left three years ago. It was not from a lack of offers but a sincere lack of interest on his part.

'Speaking of interest.' Lantash pulled his host's attention from the past to the present. Martouf focussed on the solitary figure making her way across the dunes and towards the rings. She was dressed in a pair of loose pants and a long overshirt. There was a thin veil wrapped loosely around her head and shoulders, perhaps as protection from the sun, perhaps to keep her long blond hair under control, or perhaps for dramatic effect.

Martouf started to get up from his place of concealment, only to be stopped by Lantash. 'What are you doing?'

'Lantash, I…'

'Her visits are seldom brief, Atalya will see to that. We have the rest of our watch to finish,' the symbiote chided his host.

With a mental frump, Martouf settled back into position just as the faint whine of transport rings wafted across the sand.

  
<><><><><>

  
'I miss my boots,' Sam complained as yet more sand filtered into her sandals.

'I seem to recall you taking joy every time you were able to wear something more comfortable and stylish than Tau'ri combat boots,' Atalya said.

'They were no fashion statement, but they were functional. And they kept the sand out,' Sam retorted.

'I could deaden the nerves in your feet. Then you would not feel it.'

'Talya.' Sam rolled her eyes and sighed.

'Just trying to be considerate. That way,' she prodded, urging her host to the right. Sam obediently changed course, aiming a bit to the right. Even after being blended for a year and as many times as she'd been to Vorash, she still had difficulty locating the transport rings. She knew she could give a shout and ask the sentries for guidance, but her pride demanded that she do it on her own.

'I don't even know why we're bothering.'

'Because if you miss a check in, your father will be on your doorstep.'

'Not my father. Selmac,' Sam said. 'If dad had his way, we'd go months between visits.'

'You don't give your father enough credit. He kept his distance because he didn't want to crowd you,' Atalya said. 'If Jacob had his way, you'd be living here on Vorash.'

In no mood to carry on a long-standing argument, Sam fell silent, concentrating on trudging through the deep sand. Her nerves singing with the naquadah, Sam stepped into the center of the rings and closed her eyes to forestall the all too familiar disorientation of the transport system.

Blinking quickly to adjust her eyesight, she nodded at the tunnel sentry and headed down the tunnel to the council chamber. 

"Sam!" She turned to see her dad jogging towards her, a welcoming smile on his face.

"Dad. Hi." She returned his hug, his arms pulling the scarf off the top of her head and down on her shoulders.

His hands on her upper arms, he pushed her back, giving her an appraising look. "You're still too skinny," he complained kindly.

"We're fine, dad. There's plenty to eat at the Alpha site. Maybe a noticeable lack of chocolate and coffee…but plenty of 'real food'."

"You know you don't have to stay there at all. The Tok'ra have worlds…"

"Dad," she interrupted. "I'm not getting into it. We're grateful for all the help the Tok'ra have given us but…we need to do this on our own," she said, feeling like she was repeating the same phrase for the thousandth time.

'Actually it's the 234th time,' Atalya said.

'Remind me to get you a hobby,' Sam teased. "Is the council ready?" she asked aloud.

"For you, they're always ready."

"Right," she said sardonically. "If the council had their way the survivors of Earth would be on one of your worlds or hanging around here ready to be hosts if you need them and Atalya and I would be going on missions or working with Anise in her research." She pulled from his arms and started down the corridor towards the council chambers. She hated these monthly updates. In the beginning she'd looked forward to them, the Tok'ra being their sole contact with the rest of the universe. But, in recent months, the survivor's reluctance to rejoin the fight against the goa'uld and the subsequent pressure from the Tok'ra for them to do just that, made these meetings more and more uncomfortable. There was a very real part of her that just wanted to dial out to another planet and disappear into the vastness of the universe. That part was at conflict with her symbiote, Atalya, who longed to rejoin the millennia old battle, which was the only real life the creature had ever known. Being a child of Egeria and almost as old as Selmac, Atalya and her hosts had been battling the goa'uld for the entirety of her existence.

Sam did sense however, that the symbiote had a certain sympathy for her newest host. Perhaps she was influenced by the remnants of Jolinar's memories or perhaps she'd been delving into Sam's most recent memories. Whatever the reason, Sam knew that Atalya wouldn't push her into doing something she didn't want to do. 

This was one reason the pair of them had been living on the Alpha Site for the last year. She wasn't the leader of the refugees, Major Castleman filled that role, but she was their de facto advisor and liaison with the Tok'ra. Between her experience, Atalya's two millennia of memories and the scattered fragments of Jolinar's memories, she knew more about the galaxy than most of the survivors would ever know.

After blending with Atalya, she'd been surprised to visit the Alpha Site and discover that all six SG teams that had been on missions had been contacted and they had all made it to the refuge. Major Castleman had been the ranking officer and was now the commanding officer of a rag-tag group of soldiers, scientists and archaeologists, all of whom suddenly found themselves to be orphans, widows and totally homeless.

Most of the last year had been spent concentrating on simple survival. The Alpha Site was a lush world, but it was still an alien planet.

Fortunately they'd been able to avail themselves of large stashes of supplies left behind for just such an occasion. The fifty or so survivors were still living in the pre-fab buildings that had been an original part of the site. Whether or not they would continue to do so was a matter of much debate. There were some among the survivors that wanted to continue to explore the planet, traveling farther away from the gate in hopes of finding a good place to live, and one that might escape any goa'uld's notice. And there were others that wanted to continue to explore the universe, operating as a much scaled down version of the SGC. And there was still a third group who desired to exact some revenge for Earth's destruction.

Sam didn't know which group she fell into. Part of her just wanted to get away from all of it. And there was another part of her that wanted to continue to explore the universe, even if she had to ally herself with the Tok'ra to do it. But she also wanted nothing more than to find the goa'uld bastard who'd planted the missiles on the moon and destroyed her entire planet and all of her friends and slowly kill the son of a bitch with her bare hands…about seven billion times.

The Tok'ra wanted answers to questions too. She knew they were just as divided as the refugees. She picked up on some sincere sympathy from the Tok'ra. Most of them were survivors of massacres, or their hosts were. And they knew the pain of watching your planet die. But there were just as many who felt that continuing to aid the Tau'ri was a waste of resources, resources they could better spend fighting the goa'uld.  
This is what made her monthly report such a chore in recent months. The exasperation coming from some of the council was almost a physical force. She was feeling like a houseguest on the fifth day…now seen as more of a burden than a joy.

'You know, we could have sent a messenger,' Atalya said. The symbiote felt and shared some of her host's misgivings and unsure feelings.

'A messenger can't tell me how annoyed Garshaw is today. And anyway, if I don't come, then Martouf will find an excuse to visit, which just makes things worse,' Sam said, remembering the very negative feelings from her fellow survivors the last time the Tok'ra had visited. There were some among the survivors that felt the Tok'ra could have done more to save Earth. 'And so help me if you start complaining about Martouf and Lantash I will tell Garshaw to find you a new host…maybe a cat this time,' Sam teased her symbiote, half meaning it. For reasons she'd kept secret, Atalya didn't like Martouf and Lantash. A dislike she'd been most verbal about until she realized that Sam still held Jolinar's memories of the symbiote's mate. The two beings had agreed to disagree upon the subject.

'Not a word,' Atalya promised. 'If you'll agree to stay if Jacob asks you to stay for a meal.'

'I thought you wanted to get back tonight?'

Atalya mentally shrugged. 'Linda's stew is just as good on the second day. Besides, Jacob needs to spend time with you.'

Not responding to her symbiote's prodding, Sam walked into the council chambers, carefully schooling her face to one of calm indifference. Her mask faded to a frown as she saw the council members gathered in a small klatch, talking animatedly amongst themselves. 

Possibly sensing Sam's presence, Garshaw looked up. "Samantha, Atalya. I am glad you have arrived," she said, causing the rest to look up.

"Garshaw, what's wrong?" Sam asked, picking up on the tension in the room.

"We are hoping you can help us clear something up," Asha said.

"I know the council is impatient to hear the Tau'ri's decision but…"

"No, Samantha. This is far more important," Garshaw interrupted. "We just received word from Korra. He was infiltrating Cronos' inner circle. Samantha…he tells us that Cronos has SG-1 captive on a planet called Juna."

It was as though someone had dropped her into a murky pond head first. Her head filled with fog, and her thoughts crowded in and made it hard to think. Atalya quickly took control, allowing Sam a moment to center herself in the chaos that suddenly erupted in her mind.

"That is not possible. SG-1 is dead." Memories floated up from Sam's consciousness, the Tok'ra blocked herself off from her host, unable to deal with the present situation and past burdens. "Korra is mistaken."

"Korra is not mistaken," Garshaw insisted. "He met Samantha and her team just a few months before..." The Tok'ra leader broke off realizing what she was about to say. 

'Talya,' Sam begged her symbiote. 'How can this be happening?' 

'Samantha, think. Is it...possible that there could be ANOTHER SG-1 out there? I seem to remember you telling me about...' 

'The mirror...no it was destroyed,' Sam blurted out or rather in. 'And even if there was another one, at least their Sam wouldn't be able to survive in this universe for very long.'

'Samantha there must be an explanation. How is it possible to have a duplicate SG-1?' Atalya was trying to keep calm, but her host's emotions made it hard. And then suddenly it stopped. The chaos, the uncertainty, the thoughts running around trying to find a solution to the problem, it all stopped with one word.

'Harlan.' 

<><><><><><><>

"In the first year after the SGC was reactivated we found a planet . . . completely mechanical. We were knocked out shortly after arriving, and when we woke up we were . . . . with . . . ourselves. Apparently this Harlan had copied us, our consciousness, into machine duplicates of us. " 

Atalya had taken a backseat while her Samantha explained the situation to the council, and being the blond woman's symbiote she knew before even Jacob, of the egg-shaped determination that was forming in his daughter's mind. Samantha would do anything to save the lives of this SG-1 . . . anything.

"You allowed these . . . duplicates . . . of yourselves to roam the universe?" Atalya poked her host realizing that the blond was too distracted by memories and plans to notice that Garshaw had addressed her.

"What? No. We, uh, they told us that they would bury the gate once we were gone." Sam almost smiled. "I guess they were more like us than we realized." Like a heartbeat pain filled her chest before disappearing back into her subconscious. Who had to time to deal with the past these days? "It's the only reasonable explanation I can think of."

"Then they are not your SG-1?" Sam didn't like the tone of voice Garshaw was using.

"No . . . Garshaw, you can't just leave them there!" 

One of the great things about not technically being Tok'ra, thought Atalya, is the ability to openly defy the council.

"We cannot spare the resources to resc-"

"Fine, then I'll do it myself."

"Sam!" 

Sam turned to look at her father. "I can't leave them there Dad! You know I can't." Atalya prepared herself to release hormones to calm her host. Samantha didn't like it when she controlled her that way, and so the symbiote only used it when absolutely necessary

Taking a deep calming breath and lowering his voice, Jacob forced Sam to look him in the eye. "They're not your SG-1, Sam."

"But they are SG-1, Dad. Alive and complete. They deserve." Sam looked down and sighed. When she looked up her voice was soft but her eyes shined with determination. "They deserve to stay that way."

Garshaw sighed. "Very well. You may use Tok'ra resources. But this is a strictly voluntary mission. I will order no one to help you." 

Sam knew that that would be the best she would be getting. "Thank you Garshaw. Dad?"

"I'm getting too old for this." Sam smiled, knowing she had his support. "I'll talk to Martouf, I'm sure he'll be glad to help."

"Thanks, Dad." 

<><><><><>

  
"Have you finally lost what's left of your mind!" Major Castleman demanded, his voice carrying over the small crowd of refugees gathered in the large communal room that was both mess hall and a general gathering place. 

"Major, please," Sam started. 

"Don't Major me," he said, getting to his feet and pacing the room. "In case it's slipped your mind . . . minds, can I remind you that we're barely hanging on here? That the whole population of Earth is down to fifty odd survivors and that the goa'uld or anyone else for that matter, could wipe us out with a few well-placed missiles. And now you want us to go on a mission to save some robots and remind the snakeheads that we exist?" 

"I'm well aware of our situation," she said coldly. 

"I don't know if you are," he countered. 

Sam sighed and stood before the man. "I'm not asking for help." 

"That's what it sounded like to me." 

"No," she insisted. "What I'm doing is TELLING you that Martouf, Aldwin, my dad and I are going to Juna to rescue SG-1. I'm TELLING you that we'll accept, but not ask for, any assistance. I'm TELLING you this because it's pretty damn likely that Colonel O'Neill knew of this place," she said, leaning forward so that she was inches from the major. She hadn't spent four years watching the colonel dress down people without picking up a few pointers. 

"How would he know?" Castleman asked, not backing down. 

"He knew because WE scouted this planet four years ago. Before we were duplicated and after we had the scare with the Touched virus, the general wanted us to have a Genesis site in case of a worst case scenario. It was also hoped that it could be the first ever Earth colony. 

"Now if he were human, I'd say he'd never talk. But he's not. He's a robot. He has a memory core, a core that can be DOWNLOADED," she finished, her chest heaving with repressed anger, staring Castleman directly in the eyes. 

"Do you really think we're in danger?" a very pregnant Sergeant Watkins asked. Sam's eyes softened as she turned to face the woman. Susan Watkins had one of the lucky ones. Her fiancée, Sergeant Keller had been on another team also off world at the time of the attack. The baby she carried was going to be the first born on this alien world. 

"What I think, Sergeant, is that we're relatively safe here as long as we and the Tok'ra are the only ones that know about the Alpha Site. Right now Cronos could be this close from finding out where we are. And we have two choices. Find another planet or keep him from finding out about this one." 

Castleman stepped away from Sam and paced the room, scrutinizing these people. People whose lives he was now responsible for. He saw no condemnation in their eyes. "What's their situation?" he asked with a sigh. 

"Korra did not have time to impart many details," Jacob said. "Merely that SG-1 stumbled onto Juna just as Cronos was visiting. They were captured quickly and are likely being tortured as we speak." 

"How long ago?" Sam asked abruptly. "How long ago were they captured?" She clarified at Martouf's faint frown. 

"Approximately one planetary day. Why do you ask?" 

"If I remember the reports correctly there was a power source on the planet. And they couldn't be away from it for very long. Now if they're exploring planets, it stands to reason that they've developed some sort of …battery or something." 

"Batteries don't last forever," Castleman interjected. 

"No," Sam agreed. "Which means we have to move quickly." 

  
<><><><><>

  
With a dramatic cerulean whoosh, the stargate on Juna opened. Within a few seconds the rippling surface was disturbed by a small round object. A moment later six figures slurped through the wavering event horizon and quickly fled the exposed area around the gate, concealing themselves amongst the trees. 

"How far?" Jacob whispered, shoving the scanning globe into a pouch at his waist. 

"Just over that hill," Martouf reported, pointing at the barely visible point of a hatak ship.   
The sextet made their way through the dense forests. According to Korra's information, SG-1 was being held in the dungeons of the ship. A location well away from the vulnerable peltak, but conveniently accessible from the ground when the ship was landed. 

They planned to take advantage of that convenience, using the ship's access tunnels to slip into the bowels of the hatak and liberate SG-1. 

"There," Martouf whispered, kneeling down in the foliage. Sam knelt by his side and squinted her eyes. "The Jaffa forage in the forests every day in the afternoon. We should be able to waylay them quite easily." 

"What about us? I thought Jaffa could sense other Jaffa. Won't they know we're human?" Lieutenant Dwyer asked. He and Sergeant Harrison had agreed to accompany Sam and the other Tok'ra on the mission. 

"Your job is to watch our six," Sam answered. "And if we can't get them out, you use this to detonate explosives we're going to set. The goal is to either rescue SG-1 or prevent their knowledge from leaving this planet." She handed the lieutenant a small Tok'ra device. "If we don't come back, go back to the Alpha Site," she told them. Dwyer nodded and shoved the device into a pocket of his vest. 

"If we're not back in twelve hours, we're probably not coming back," Jacob said. 

"Good luck," Dwyer said as the Tok'ra slipped away from them, disappearing into the bushes.

<><><><><>

The short firefight that it took to take down the Jaffa was covered up nicely by donning their metal uniforms, hiding the bodies and running around aimlessly until the backup party arrived.

"It must have been the natives of this planet." Aldwin explained to the Jaffa. "The shots came from that direction. Go investigate." He pointed the staff weapon in the direction opposite of the bodies and marched toward the ship without looking back. Sam, Martouf and Jacob followed without a word.

They were three Tok'ra and one of the last surviving Tau'ri on a Goa'uld controlled planet, in a Goa'uld ship, in Jaffa uniforms marching to rescue prisoners from Goa'uld control. And that wasn't even the scary part. No, the scary part was that Sam knew this ship. Knew that the symbol that looked like a triangle with the hiccups would open to a tunnel that led into the engine room if she pushed it up, that it would open a tunnel that led to the third storage room if pushed down. She knew that the second left on the second right led to a trap door that would lead them to the sewer system, and she knew with absolute certainty that the prison cells were situated on the third floor from the bottom in the north east corner. 

This knowledge worried Sam, she didn't like discovering she knew things she didn't know she knew. It usually meant unwelcome memories popping up at inappropriate times. So she just hoped that the familiarity simply stemmed from the fact that all Goa'uld ships are alike and not from the fact that Jolinar had been here.

One more corner and they were there . . . and it was empty. 

'What now?' This day was already pushing her to her limits

'Calm yourself Samantha, Talya soothed. Sam almost snorted.

'Oh I'm calm . .. I'm just really, really pissed off.'

"Where are the prisoners!" It took Sam a second to reset her mind to the outside world, it was Aldwin barking at a passing Jaffa. 

"Commander Dy'la took them to the Interrogation lab at our Lords orders." Aldwin motioned him away and the four marched their way to the fourth floor from the bottom. It took every ounce of Sam's will power and some of Atalya's not to break into a dead run when they neared the room. Being in costume they didn't even bother bursting into the room. They just walked in.

Jack would have loved this. Sam thought absently, it would have fitted perfectly with his sense of irony.

The room was plain. Sam, the other Sam, was on her knees within a circle of flickering green light. Another woman crouched before her, the look on her face one of rapt fascination combined with the sick pleasure most Goa'uld received from the pain of another. 

'She looks pained,' Atalya observed. 'I did not know mechanical beings could feel pain'.

'Neither did I.'

The woman, Dy'la, looked up at them.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Even if they have planned, and practiced, in advance the four intruders could not have reached such perfect synchronization of movements that they did in that moment. At the exact same time, four helmets retracted, and four staff weapons were lifted, and armed. 

"This is a jailbreak," Sam quipped, raising her beribboned hand and blasting the leather clad goa'uld across the room. She saw Aldwin coming from behind her, his staff weapon aimed unerringly at the unconscious woman. Sam made her way over to the console as the other Sam struggled to her feet. 

"What's going on?" the robot demanded.

"We're getting you guys out of here," Sam said. "Who's this?" she asked, moving over to the table.

"It's Daniel. What the hell is going on? Who are you?"

Sam ignored the robot and studied the controls. She pushed the right buttons and the wavering green force field collapsed. Casting cautious looks at the people in the room, the robot stepped off the dais and crossed the room to Sam. Sam motioned for two of the guards to pick up the headless body. "Where's its head?" she asked coldly, trying not to remember the last time she'd stood over Daniel's body. There was no blood this time, no useless struggles for breath.

"Cronos took it to his throne room," Robot Sam said. "I think he wants it as a trophy."

"Then we better hurry," Sam brushed past the robot then stopped as the woman grabbed her arm in an iron grip.

"You're not going ANYWHERE until you tell me what the fuck's going on! Who are you, what are you doing here and where are you taking him?"

At the end of her patience, Sam raised her right hand and fired her zat, watching the robot convulse then collapse. "Get her and the body out of here. Aldwin, you, Martouf and I are going to the peltak," she ordered. "We can't let Cronos keep the head, that's where their memory core is."

Sam depended on Atalya to keep her face dispassionate as she watched her fellow Tok'ra carefully pick up the limp bodies of the two robots and carry them out of the torture chamber and out of the hatak. Two down, two more to go.

She silently motioned for Martouf and Aldwin to follow her as she made her way through the maze of corridors towards the peltak level. Their stolen uniforms allowed them to make the trip unchallenged. She paused outside the large double doors to the throne room/peltak, letting Atalya boost her hearing. 

"Tell me how to access the memories of this machine," Cronos demanded.

"Only after you have released Carter," Teal'c said.

'He sounds like you remember him,' Atalya said.

'Yes, he does.' Sam fought back the memories of the last time she saw Teal'c…the pain in his eyes as he lay before her, his neck irreparably broken. His wonderful stoicism as he clung to life long enough to record the message in goa'uld to warn people from visiting Earth.

'If you don't pay attention, you're going to be burying him too,' Atalya reminded mercilessly snapping Sam back to the present.

Sam shook her head and silently agreed with her symbiote. She motioned to her companions and then braced herself, boldly pushing the door open and striding into the chamber. Cronos was standing over Teal'c, his hands wrapped around the Jaffa's throat as if to strangle him to death. The goa'uld looked up, his eyes flaring in anger as he took in the sight of the three guards. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, letting go of Teal'c's neck. The man…robot fell to his knees, gasping for breath. A strange look passed over his face and his eyes widened in surprise. "Goa'uld, kree!"

Sam heard the swish of metal over metal and turned to see Martouf opening his helmet. She could just stare as his eyes glowed in anger. He raised his hand and fired his ribbon device, throwing Cronos across the room. The goa'uld slid down the wall and struggled to sit up as Martouf stalked over to him, his hand device still aglow.

"Martouf, what…" Sam asked as she started after him. 

Aldwin gently grabbed her arm. "No. It is his right."

"Aldwin? What's going on?"

"Cronos killed Jolinar. Revenge is Martouf's right as her mate," he said. 

Sam watched as Martouf stood over Cronos, his ribbon device aimed unerringly at the man's head. She heard Cronos gurgle and moan as he tried to escape. After a few dreadful seconds, he slumped, his symbiote giving one last feeble flare of the eyes before he died.

Martouf turned, breathing heavily as he staggered back to Sam and Aldwin. "I seem to recall you giving us hell for killing goa'uld," she reminded him, stepping over to offer him support as he stumbled. Aldwin bent down and picked up Teal'c. 

The Jaffa looked at them strangely, frowning as he caught sight of Sam in her armor. "Captain Carter…you…who are you?"

Sam fought the urge to smile. It wasn't often someone caught Teal'c speechless. "It's a long story," she said, spying Daniel's head lying on a small table. She picked it up and stuck it under her arm. "We need to get the hell out of here before his Jaffa figure out what's going on. Where's O'Neill?"

Teal'c looked past her, frowning at the sight of Cronos' corpse. "I do not know. He is dead?" He asked, walking over to stand over the body.

"Yes," Martouf affirmed.

"Then my father is avenged." He turned back and frowned again, his body tensing. "Which god do you serve?"

"We serve no one but ourselves," Aldwin said.

"We're all going to be serving time in Cronos' brig if we stay here and fool around," Sam said. "You are coming with us. Will it be conscious or unconscious?" She shifted Daniel's head to her other arm and brought up her zat.

'You're enjoying this,' Atalya quipped.

The robot sighed and quirked his eyebrow. He nodded his assent and allowed Martouf and Aldwin to each take an arm. Sam watched them walk past her then she fired her zat, banishing Cronos to oblivion, gaining more than a little satisfaction from the act. 

They exited the hatak much like they entered it, striding down the halls as though they had every right to be there.

'We should send back some operatives to secure this ship,' Atalya said. 'Having our own mother ship would be a great tactical advantage for the Tok'ra.'

'The second we get the clones home, we'll call Garshaw,' Sam agreed. They hurried through the forest, not bothering to shed their armor. Something told Sam that time was of the essence. They made it to the rendezvous point, relieved to see the rest of the Tok'ra gathered in a loose group, not far from the Stargate.  
"We don't have time to look for O'Neill," Sam said. "Let's get these people home and…"

"How about you letting Teal'c go and I just might let you live," one of the armored people said, raising his weapon.

'He caught you flatfooted,' Atalaya said wryly.

'Bite me.' Sam surveyed the scene again, this time with a critical eye. The two Tok'ra standing over the two unconscious robots were looking down sheepishly, not meeting her eyes. O'Neill held his rifle loosely but confidently. He was wearing a version of the native garb, she guessed stolen from someone. 'God, I missed that.'

'What?'

'His…confidence. No matter how bad things got, he never let it show. I swear there were so many times we fought to live just …so we wouldn't let him down.'

'You can wax poetic later. Maybe you should break this up before someone gets hurt?'

Sam sighed. 'You're right.' She strode forward, pulling Daniel's head from under her arm. "Here, Jack. Catch." She lobbed the head at the colonel who reflexively caught the head. "Here's our situation," she said, perversely enjoying the shocked look on his face. "You guys were prisoners, now you're not. This is a good thing."

Jack studied the situation. "I'm the smartass around here, whoever you are."

"I'm the original of her." Sam pointed at the robot Sam who was beginning to stir. Teal'c shook off Aldwin and Martouf and knelt by her side. "You might remember us."

"I remember a Captain in the Air Force. Things might have changed a bit but these folks sure as hell don't look like members of the SGC."

"That's because there is no SGC, not anymore," Sam said.

"What happened?" Robot Sam asked, letting Teal'c help her to her feet.

"It's not something we should go into when we're in hostile territory," Jacob said, joining the group.

"Dad?" Robot Sam pulled herself from Teal'c's arms and stepped forward. "What are you doing here?"

Jacob glanced from the robot to his flesh and blood daughter and back. 'God she looks so young.'

'They're always young, Jacob,' Selmac said.

"We don't have time for this," Jacob insisted aloud, quelling the impulse to freeze time and try to preserve some of the innocence in the doppelganger's eyes.

"We're gonna make the time," Jack insisted.

"Teal'c," the robot Sam said softly, stumbling. 

The faux Jaffa reached out and caught her before she could fall. "We are out of time, O'Neill," he said urgently.

"What's happening?" Aldwin asked.

"Their batteries are running out," Sam said. "Does that mean we can give up the posturing and get you guys back to Harlan's planet before you turn into really funky door stops. Or should I just zat you three times and save myself the headache?" Sam put her hands on her hips and effected her best 'don't screw with me' look. 

Jack looked from Teal'c and Sam to the unattached head in his hands. "O'Neill," Teal'c urged.

"Fine," Jack agreed.

Teal'c started to help robot Sam to her feet, then stepped aside as Jacob moved forward. "Let me," the man said, wrapping his arm around her waist. Martouf picked up Daniel's body and the small group made their way to the Stargate. 

By the time they arrived, Aldwin was supporting Teal'c and Sam was standing beside Jack, keeping a wary eye out for signs of his imminent collapse. She remembered that the last time they'd all run out of energy at about the same time and could only suppose that the torture Sam and Teal'c had endured could be the reason for them collapsing faster.

They reached the Stargate and Dwyer and Harrison stepped from concealment. "I take it your mission was a success, major," Dwyer said to Sam, his eyes fixed upon O'Neill.

"Major?" Jack asked.

"More of that long story. Yes," she answered Dwyer. "It was. We're going to take them back to get recharged. I want you to return to the Alpha site and tell them what happened. We'll be along as soon as we can," she said, dialing Harlan's planet. Catching O'Neill as he started to collapse, she pulled him up the short flight of stairs flanked by the rest of the Tok'ra, all bearing their burdens. She stepped through the gate, headed for a planet she'd never thought she'd see again.

  
<><><><><>

  
Sam walked through the achingly familiar halls and corridors of the power plant, her footfalls echoing slightly. She found a set of stairs and took a seat. It was just like yesterday when she'd been here with her team. It seemed that time had bypassed this place and, if she closed her eyes, she could still remember how it used to be. Harlan's effusive 'comtraya' had done little to stem the tide of regret that had washed over her. Things had been so different then; they'd all been so different. Jack wasn't nearly as jaded as her colonel. Teal'c still felt the love for Drey'ac, unmarred by her betrayal with Fro'tac. She presumed that Daniel was the same way, still full of hope to rescue Shau'ri.

And herself…god, no wonder the colonel had been skeptical about her at first. He must have thought she was a refugee from a kindergarten. She envied the robot version of herself.

'Because she's young? I can fix that you know,' Atalaya said.

'No. It's not that…'

'That's good. I didn't think you were vain.'

'She's so innocent, Talya.'

'She's you.'

'She's not me. She's the past.'

'You can't change the past,' the symbiote reminded.

'You know, theoretically, if a wormhole slingshots…'

"Hey, kid," Jacob said, breaking Sam's internal dialogue.

"Hi, dad." She looked up to see him sitting beside her. "Did you get a hold of Garshaw?"

He nodded and his eyes flared. "Yes, Samantha," Selmac said. "They have launched the campaign. Garshaw feels that it will be successful. With Cronos dead, the Jaffa really don't have a reason to fight."

"What of the ones that do?" Atalaya asked.

Selmac opened Jacob's mouth then froze as the quiet was broken by the clattering click of weapons being cocked. "You two have about three minutes to impress the hell out of me before I do a little pest control," Jack said, his eyes and voice cold.

"We're not Goa'uld." It was Selmac who spoke, finally, after a few long moments of silence. Sam almost smiled, 'Right Selmac,' she thought, 'That'll convince him''

"Glowing eyes, funny voice," Jack was being sardonic, god how she had missed that. "If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck-" 

"We are of the same race as the Goa'uld, but that is where the similarities end. We fight the system lords, we are called the Tok'ra." Selmac was trying to be imposing, if not for the weapon being pointed at her head, Sam would have found the situation amusing. Selmac hadn't known Jack before Jack had known Jacob, and had never had to earn Jack's trust.

"Selmac, could you leave us alone for a while?" Both Jack and Selmac turned their heads to Sam. "Four against one isn't really fair odds." Selmac nodded and Jacob took control. 

"Sam, will you be OK?" Sam nodded.

"I'm pretty sure once I explain it to him, thing's will be ok." Jacob crouched down next to her. 

"That's not what I meant." 

Sam sighed. "I know. I'll be fine, Dad." Jacob nodded got up and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Jack yelled at the older man's retreating back. "Hey, I didn't say you could go!"

"Jack," the robot turned to look at her, she never called him Jack. "Remember that long story? Got time now?" The weapon in his hand was still pointed at her head.

"Give me the Reader's Digest version," he said calmly, his voice barely betraying his curiosity.

'He wants the short version 'Talya.' Sam almost smiled, why did she find this so amusing? Was it some form of hysteria?

'Then give it to him.'

"Well the good news is that Earth's war with the Goa'uld is over." She paused and took a deep breath before delivering her blow. "The bad news is, Earth lost." The weapon wavered, just a bit, but enough that she could have disarmed him had she wanted to.

"Maybe you better tell me the long version."

It hurt, it hurt even more than she remembered, but even so she hadn't let Atalya take over and finish the story for her. A long time ago these had been her friends, and the woman sitting across from her had been her, she owed them the whole story, and if it hurt, well, she could pretend that it was just a story, just something that happened to a friend of a friend. An urban legend, because, let's face it, the destruction of a world? Not just of any world but of Earth? Couldn't be real, couldn't be.

'Samantha.' She was talking, and there was a voice in her head, and she was talking. 'Samantha please, you are frightening me.' There was a voice in her head but she couldn't spare it any thought, she had a story to tell.

Memories clamored for attention in her mind, each demanding that it be told first, that is was more important.

Nasyia, Jolinar . . . .

_Open the 'gate now! I command you! . . .Let me go, I must go . . . My death only feeds the fire that burns strong in the Tok'ra . . ._

The flashbacks, the Tok'ra, Dad and Selmac . . . 

_Oh yes, it's a common ailment amongst your species. We cure it all the time, it's no problem . . . I think we should at least try to offer it to my Dad? . . You have a host for Selmac? . . I am the oldest and wisest among us . . . Oh geez ._ . .

The planet with the weapons, the statue they didn't even look at twice . . .

_Kids, we've hit the jackpot . . . Sir, look at this . . . Pack it up, give it to Daniel . . . I can't figure it out, could you run some tests? No hurry, it can wait._

NID . . .

_General Hammond says that NID's been making noise again about not getting any of the tech that comes through here, find something harmless to shut them up will you?_

The Plague, the deaths…

_The President stated in a press conference today that he expects to have a vaccination, if not a cure, for this illness within two weeks. Some skeptics say that this promise was only issued to prevent wide spread panic, in this reporters opinion . . . Sorry, should have caught it . . . I'm going to go to sleep . . . This is your facility Major. Do with it as you wish . . . One hundred percent fatal, repeat this planet has been contaminated. . . Dal Shaka Mel._

'Samantha, you never told me.' She had locked away the memories, deep down within her, left the details sketchy even to her symbiote. 'I never knew, I am so s-'

'No. Not pity, not from you.' Samantha's tone was more desperate than she had ever heard it. 'Please.'

There might have been tears running down her face, she was too numb to feel them if there were. She remembered how raw her hands were after she had cleaned up the bloodstains from the floor. Hours upon hours of relentless scrubbing, until her knees hurt, and her back ached, and even then it wasn't enough to drive the images away. She remembered the recoil of the zat as she disposed of Teal'c's body; she had flushed what was left of Junior down the toilet, a gold fish funeral. She had stopped talking, though the story was not over, she just couldn't get the words out.

"The teams that have been trapped off world made their way to the Beta site, now known as the Alpha site, Sam joined them after she was blended and has been serving as a sort of liaison between them and the Tok'ra." Jacob stepped out of the shadows to complete the story. Sam would have hugged him has she trusted her legs to hold her up. "When our operative found out that you had been captured by Cronos, Sam organized the rescue party, and the rest is history."

The four robots looked at each other, unsure of whether to believe the story. They didn't want to, but then again who would? Sam and Jacob saw the doubt in their eyes.

"Siler blocked the gate," Sam finally said. "Try dialing Earth, you'll see the wormhole won't form." Right now she just wanted to leave, to get out of this machine and sit at the shore of the lake and allow the sound of the gentle waves and rustling leaves to sooth her frayed emotions.

'I knew this was a bad idea Sel,' Jacob told his symbiote. 'She's falling apart. I should have sent her back to the Alpha site.'

'She is an adult Jacob, and you do not give her enough credit. She is emotionally exhausted yes, but she is not falling apart, and she won't. Trust in her and trust in Atalya to protect her.' Despite Selmac's reassurances Jacob decided that his daughter had had enough. Moving over next to Sam, Jacob rested his hand supportingly on her shoulder.

"Come on, Sam. We're done here."

Sam nodded and allowed her father to help her up. "Try dialing Earth," she said to the robots again. "You'll see we're telling the truth."

Jacob led her away, one arm wrapped around her shoulders. As he was entering sequence on the DHD she turned. "You know where we are." She wanted to say more, she wanted to say 'come visit,' she wanted to say 'don't be strangers,' she wanted to say 'I hope I never see you again,' she wanted to say 'goodbye,' but she knew she couldn't. Daniel would want to know about Shau'ri, Teal'c of his family. Maybe Sam would want to get to know her father; she had just as much right as the real Sam did. She would see them again, she was sure of that; she just wished she knew if she wanted to. The words died on her lips as the wormhole flared open, the event horizon a gaping mouth waiting to swallow her. "You know where we are," she said again, turning toward the gate. Not since the Land of Light when her father had offered her the chance to host Atalya had she felt so torn.

''Talya . . .' she whispered in her mind.

'Shhhh, Samantha,' the answering whisper was a cool cloth to her fevered mind. 'Rest now, I will take care of you.' Sam released control of her body to her symbiote, content in the knowledge that she was safe, crawled into a dark, silent corner of her mind and slept. 

<><><><><>

They called them the ghosts, behind their backs of course. At first, their arrival caused quite a bit of anxiety among the refugees. Only the Tok'ra and their own knew where they were, and the Tok'ra didn't visit much. The aliens were engaged in a war for their very survival and seemed to have little time for a rag tag group of refugees with little to offer.

The first to visit had been Daniel. He'd come through the gate one morning, bearing a list of friendly or unoccupied planets where the refugees could barter with or flee to.

In exchange for his gift, he'd asked little in return, just some information. Sam had known he'd come, his curiosity too powerful to be ignored. She'd accepted the gift, then led him away from the compound, seeking privacy from the communal living of the refugees.

She led him to her grotto, a place she'd found and staked claim to as her own months ago. The other refugees knew of her place, and most gave it a wide berth. Many of them were reticent around her now. Some because of what she'd seen and done, others because of what she was.

Her sanctuary was a small cave halfway up a hillside. It was deep enough to serve as a shelter and as the months went by, she'd found herself spending more and more time there. A small spring flowed from the rocks nearby and there were enough plants and trees to provide her with a minimum of shade and sustenance.

She brought Daniel to her sanctuary, knowing that no one needed to witness what she was to tell him. Sitting him down, she patiently related to him the facts of Shau'ri's death, the fact that her last few moments of life were spent in freedom and with her Danyel. She told him about the harcesis child and about Kheb, silently marveling that a robot could cry.

He spent the night in her cave, plumbing Atalya's knowledge about Harcesis, then left in the morning.  
She watched him go, resigned to see the sadness wearing upon him. There was a part of her that hadn't wanted to tell him, that wanted to preserve the hope in his eyes. In the end however, she decided that the truth would be best, he deserved nothing less.

  
It took another week for Teal'c to come. He surprised her late one evening, appearing with the last rays of the sun. She hadn't felt his arrival…which only served to remind her that no matter what he looked like, he wasn't her Teal'c.

At least she had some good news to tell him, his family was still alive. She couldn't miss the emotion on his face however, when she told him about Sho'nac's death. He handled it better than his counterpart…but then again, this Teal'c hadn't been reunited with his first love before she'd died. He left with the dawn after telling her that his SG-1 owed her people a debt, a debt that they wanted to repay. She wanted to tell him that the debt was hers, that they owed her nothing, but he was already gone.

  
"Well, isn't that a sight," Sam heard. She looked up from the fish she was cleaning to see Jack walking towards her. The spring by her cave ran down the hill, forming a small stream that had a modest population of something close to trout. Every few days or so, she and Talya would catch a fish and roast it over the fire, using some of the local flora for seasoning. Fishing was something Sam had never had the time or patience for before, now she found it oddly therapeutic.

"Jack, I didn't know you were coming," Sam said, setting down her knife and rinsing the scales off her hand. "Do you want to join me for dinner? Or…" She stopped. Did they eat? Could they eat?

He grinned. "We can handle it, as long as we don't over do. Oddly enough, these bodies can taste, smell, feel…. just like the real thing."

He bent over and picked up her catch, motioning for her to lead the way. She led him up the hillside, enjoying the company for once. She'd gotten so used to being alone, first on Earth, then with the Tok'ra and now here. Among everyone she knew, she was the odd person out. The humans saw her as Tok'ra, the Tok'ra had never dealt with a twice-blended host.

Unconsciously falling into a working pattern, he helped her build the fire while she gathered the vegetation and did the final preparations on the meal. Using a large flat rock, she set the fillets by the fire to cook. 

"Did I ever tell you about my cabin in Minnesota?" he asked as they watched the fish cook.

"No. You never mentioned it," she answered, poking the coals.

"Been in my family for years. I grew up nearby. It's not much, just a small cabin beside a lake with no fish in it." He turned and shot her a grin. "But the fishing wasn't why we came. It was…home to us, to me."

"I'm sorry, " she said, hearing the regret in his voice. "If we'd have been more careful…"

He waved his hand, silencing her. "It's one of those things. I…we couldn't go back anyway."

"How long did it take you?"

"What?"

"To start exploring," she prompted.

He chuckled. "A few months. At first we were so busy fixing stuff for Harlan, we didn't even notice the time passing. I mean, hell, we could work seventy-two hours straight and not even notice it. It was when we got stuff caught up that it all started to fall apart."

"What happened?"

"We…got bored." He shrugged. "You can only look at the same set of walls and hallways before you start to get stir crazy. Maybe if we'd been able to go out to the surface," He shook his head. "At first Daniel and I started to debate…then argue. Then Teal'c got involved, Carter too a little. The next thing I knew, we were dividing up the plant, each staking claim to a territory and so sick of each other that I knew it'd just be a matter of time before we'd kill each other."

"So, you started to explore," she said, seeing exactly how it could happen. They were friends certainly, but there was no way four such different people could live in each other's hip pockets indefinitely. 

He nodded. "Yep. I set Carter to tinkering and she made the battery." He thumped his chest. "Daniel and Teal'c started working on addresses, I made our version of a MALP." He shrugged. "Instant SGC."

She smiled fondly, thinking about how much fun it would have been; to explore the universe unhampered by politics and 'the big picture'. Exploration for the sake of exploration. It seemed like a dream come true.

The fire popped, drawing Sam's attention back to the present. "I think dinner's done," she said, picking up her mess kit, handing Jack the lid with an apologetic look. "Sorry, I don't get guests often." He took the proffered fork while she used her spoon to slide the fish off the rock onto the makeshift plates.

Taking a bite, she took a minute to savor the smoky, spicy flavor of the fish. She saw him forgo the utensils, using his fingers to pick up little bits of the flaky white flesh.

"So aah…you really got one of those…things in your head?" he asked abruptly.

"Yes," she answered, setting down her plate. "Talya and I have been blended for about a year now."

He shook his head. "I don't get this. Since when is having a goa'uld a good thing?" he asked, also setting his dinner down.

'Hush Talya, I'll handle this,' Sam said, sensing her symbiote's rising ire. "The Tok'ra are not goa'uld. Biologically, yes, they are the same creatures. But the real difference is politics. Talya didn't TAKE me as a host, I volunteered. We share this body; I have access to her memories and she to mine. We're….partners. This isn't like Shau'ri or Skaara."

"How do I know?" he asked abruptly.

"Excuse me?"

"How do I KNOW that it's YOU that's talking and not some snake? For that matter, how do I know what happened to Earth. I mean, you and your goa'uld buddies could have trashed the planet and are keeping these people as slaves."

Sam's eyes flared as Talya took control. "Colonel O'Neill, what Samantha tells you IS the truth. Earth has been allied with the Tok'ra for four years. We are friends and partners. Samantha prefers to maintain control most of the time, and I am willing to accept that. She did everything she could to save Earth, not to destroy it. Ask yourself if your Samantha Carter would be capable of genocide. If you do not believe her, why don't you journey to Earth and see it for yourself."

"Yeah, well, you see…there's this little thing about the gate being buried," he said.

"Fine," Talya said, shooting to her feet and starting to leave the camp.

"Where you going?"

"I'm going to go contact Jacob. He can bring a ship and take you and your team to Earth. Perhaps when you see the millions of rotting corpses yourself, you'll believe her." 

Atalya stalked down the hillside, ignoring Sam's protests to give her control back. The symbiote was mad, angrier than Sam could ever remember. 

"Carter!" Jack yelled, scrambling after her. "Damn it, Carter, will you stop!" He reached out and grabbed her arm, spinning her around. 

Atalya yanked her arm from his grasp, grabbing his throat with her other hand. "She is telling you the truth, Colonel. We are NOT goa'uld. We split from them two millennia ago and have been fighting their tyranny ever since. Samantha consented to be my host and saved my life. While you and your team were playing the galactic explorer, she was fighting an unwinable war. She lost friends and family in that fight and nearly lost herself. Believe what you wish about us, but leave Samantha out of it." Atalya abruptly released control, causing Sam to stumble and almost fall. Jack pulled back roughly and stood there, watching her cautiously as he rubbed his throat.

"God, I'm sorry," Sam apologized. "She's never done that before." She frowned and looked at her hand, then up at his throat. 

"That's…that's ok. I understand. I think. There really are two people in there aren't there?"

Sam smiled ruefully. "Yeah. Umm…I guess Talya's a little…"

"Protective," he said.

"Yeah."

"I can see why," Jack said. "Just…tell her NOT to do that around Carter, ok? She's already a little freaked out." Sam raised her eyebrows in question. "She…let's just say it was hard on her to see HERSELF as a host…and then the deal with her father…well you can see how it looks."

"Just like Earth was taken over by the goa'uld," she said, seeing things from his point of view. Heck, it's what she'd have thought had she come across human versions of herself with snakes in their heads. "Dad is just like me. He was dying of cancer and Selmac saved his life. After that he…he decided to join the Tok'ra."

"You didn't say you were dying," he prompted.

"Maybe not physically but…Jack, I was the only survivor, not just of SG-1, of Earth. I…" She closed her eyes in memory, feeling again the cool, smooth steel in her hand, hearing the snicking click as she cocked the pistol. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. "I couldn't live with that, literally. She saved my life, maybe not as dramatically as Selmac did with dad, but if it wasn't for Talya, I wouldn't be here."

He sighed and nodded, accepting her words. He knew what it was like to be pushed beyond your limit, to feel that there was nothing worth living for. And he knew what it was like to have someone, something pull you from that abyss and make you live again. "I should get back." He tapped his chest again. "These babies last for forty-eight hours but…well after last time I'm not in the mood to push it. Thanks for the fish." He turned and walked away then turned back. "You, any of you, are welcome to come visit, anytime you want. Daniel's already trying to figure out some new addresses. Maybe a little good old fashioned exploration."

"Thanks, Jack. I might take you up on that some day." She watched him walk away, quickly disappearing into the darkness. She sighed and turned, making her way back to her grotto. 

'You cannot hide here forever . . .' Her symbiote's voice was gentle as always, and not the least bit apologetic at what she had done.

'Not forever, she'll come soon. I'll go back when she leaves.'

<><><><><><>

She had watched as one by one her friends set out on their pilgrimage, and found herself hating them for going, hating the other Sam for ever showing up. True, she had saved their lives, but she had changed everything, ruined it. They had all resigned themselves to the knowledge that they weren't themselves, that they were merely copies, good copies, but never as a good as the originals. Now? Now they were the originals, simply because the flesh and blood version of themselves were dead. Except her, she was still a copy.

It was a petty thought and she tried to push it out of her mind, this kind of jealousy was beneath her. But as each of her friends returned, different then when they left, subdued, excited, in Daniel's case both, but somehow fundamentally different then when they had left. 

It was the middle of the night when she finally arrived, but a few people were still awake. When she asked where her counterpart was, she was directed to the hill outside of the compound.

"She doesn't live here?" She was answered with a one-shouldered shrug.

"Sometimes, lately she's spending most of her time up there, but she'll probably come down for the winter."

"What does she do up there?" Another shrug and the conversation was over.

She made her way up the hill still not sure what she wanted to say, or even if she wanted to say anything. It was almost a relief to find the other asleep. It gave her some time observe the woman, and order her thoughts. She had wrapped a blanket around herself, using it as both a mattress and a cover. Her knees were folded close to her chest, her hands rested near her head on a leaf stuffed sack, which she used as a pillow. Dew was forming on her eyelashes and the tip of her nose. There was movement under her eyelids indicating REM sleep, vaguely Sam wondered which one of them was dreaming, the lady or the snake.

A small fire was dying in a protected corner of the cave and without thinking, Sam added some of the wood that was piled near it. When she finished tending to the flames she turned back to the slumbering woman only to find her awake.

Blue eyes met blue eyes in a freakish battle of wills. Once upon a time there was a woman named Samantha Carter, she not longer existed. In her place were the two permutations, both reluctant to give up their shared identity, both feeling as though they didn't deserve it.

"I was wondering when you'd come," Sam . . . She said, pushing herself up and shoving the blanket back. 

She ignored her and turned away, tossing a small log onto the fire and stirring it up until flames licked at the dry surface. 

Recognizing the mood of her guest, Sam simply picked up her pot of water, setting it on a flat rock that was heated by the fire. She sat there silently and watched the water heat, steam curling into the cool air. Once it was hot, she dropped in a few leaves from a plant. It was smelled close to coffee, not close enough, but as close as she'd get. When it was finished brewing, she poured two mugs, handing one to her robot half. 

"I didn't want to come," she said quietly, looking up to meet her own eyes. 

"I know." 

"The colonel made me" 

"I figured that." 

"So..." 

"So?" 

"So...what are we going to do?"

  
Sam led her to the top of the hill, to a place where the ground had been worn down into a small cliff which stretched out about 15 feet before softening back into the rolling green hillside. They sat at the edge of the cliff facing the dawn, overlooking the compound, at least she thought the hint of pink along the horizon was dawn, it could have been this planet's version of the northern lights.

They hadn't talked on the way up, Sam apparently had lost her habit of distracted babbling. Either she had stopped fearing silence, or the voice in her head made the fear a moot point.

"So," she said after a few moments of silence. "You and Dad seem to be getting along pretty well." Sam looked at her cautiously and nodded, unsure of if she was being set up. "Quite a feat considering last time we talked, he basically accused me of being unable to take care of myself."

Sam smiled. "I remember," she said, "but in his defense I-" She paused and titled her head to the side in thought, " We," She finally decided. "In his defense we were sporting a black eye, a split lip, and a broken engagement."

"He still had no right-"

"Don't be angry with him. He apologized."

"Really?" She was skeptical. Jacob Carter never apologized. Sam nodded.

"Every time he's trusted me, trusted in me."

She gave a snort in response, and silence prevailed once more.

"I'll give you the coordinates for the current Tok'ra world, you should go visit."

"Why? All we ever did was fight."

Sam sighed. "Selmac's really mellowed him out. He and Mark were even talking before . . ." Her voice trailed off. Pain flashed in her eyes before being quickly and ruthlessly suppressed.  
  
"Mark and Dad talking?" she said lightly, wanting to ease the other's pain. "Sorry I missed it." Sam smiled weakly at the attempt and turned her face away from her , composing herself. She allowed her counterpart a few moments. That's when she noticed her clothing. Black pants made from a cloth similar in appearance to denim; her shirt was blue in color and seemed to be made of rough cotton with large seams of thick black thread, matched by the black shoelace-type string on the collar and cuffs. It was not even remotely similar to the clothing worn by the other survivors in the compound, nor did it resemble the uniform like outfit Jacob had been wearing. She wondered whether Sam did it on purpose, to set herself out, or whether it was just another symptom of whatever set her apart from the rest.

In a sudden fit of compassion she moved her hand and rested it on Sam's thigh, her reaction was unexpected and completely out of proportion. When her hand had touched Sam, she had jumped, startled, surprised. Seeing her reaction, the android pulled back, feeling as though she had done something terribly wrong.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. Sam sat up, moving her hands in front of her.

"No, it's ok, you didn't do anything wrong. It's just been so long-" She took a deep breath ordering her thoughts. "It's just that, except for Dad, no one touches me anymore." The words came out in a rush, Sam didn't really want to share this information, but she didn't want the other woman to feel offended. Sam shrugged and blushed self-consciously. "Wasn't prepared."

It was then she truly understood how alone this woman actually was. . . here at least.

"Why didn't you live with the Tok'ra?" The question escaped her mouth before her brain could stop it. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that." Sam shrugged.

"It's alright, I've asked myself that question more than once."

"Well?"

"I don't belong there either, and at least here I have some sense of stability, and a place to be alone." She jerked her chin toward the compound. "Besides I have a responsibility to them, it's a big galaxy and we're very small."

That watched the sun rise and Sam walked her to the gate, and before she left, showed her the symbols for the Tok'ra base.

"Spend time with Dad. He's changed, you'll see." She promised her she'd think about it, then entered the sequence for Harlan's planet and left without looking back, without saying a word. What was there to say?

Sam watched her go then turned and headed back toward her cave.

'Samantha, you said you would return to the compound after your counterpart's visit.'

'Yeah, I remember, Do you mind?' Sometimes she wondered if she was enough company for her symbiote.

'No, not really. We don't belong here.'

Sam nodded good morning to people as she passed them by, but didn't stop to talk to any of them.

<><><><><>

"You did this to me you son of a b….aarrgghh!!"

Sam stroked the woman's head, feeling the sweat soak into her clothes. It was late spring at the Alpha Site and the lack of air conditioning was making itself known. The refugees had altered their lifestyles to suit the weather, afternoon siestas becoming the norm. But there was one thing that had no respect for their new cultural norm…Mother Nature in the form of Susan Watkin's baby. 

"Just hang on Suzie, hang on," Brian Keller urged, standing by his wife's side.

"If you'd have hung onto it, I wouldn't be in this mess, " she spat, her body tensing with another contraction.

Sam shared amused looks with Major Castleman who was sitting at the foot of the bed, ready to play impromptu baby catcher.

'He doesn't look nervous,' Atalya observed.

'He puts up a good front,' Sam replied. Frank Castleman had gotten the job of the Alpha Site OB/GYN because he'd witnessed the births of his three now deceased children. Which gave him more experience than anyone else in the compound. Sam's presence was also more pragmatic than desired. She'd been the one to find Susan outside of the camp and bring her back, staying at the woman's insistence. 'Please, God let nothing go wrong,' Sam silently begged.

'Ease yourself, Samantha. Women have been giving birth for millennia,' Talya soothed.

'And been dying in childbirth just as long. Where the hell are they?'

'Babies arrive when they want to arrive. And he's not in the position to just hang around, waiting for the big event.'

'But still…' the door to the cabin opened, flooding the room with sunlight.

"I'm sorry, we were on a mission. I came as soon as I could," Daniel said, hurrying across the room.

"You're just in time," Castleman said, eagerly stepping back. "I think I see the head."

Daniel quickly shucked his jacket and washed his hands in a basin of water. He sat on the low stool and studied the woman. "Yep, that's the head. Ok, Susan, I just need one big push and we're gonna have this little one in the world."

Susan nodded and Sam braced herself, helping to lever the woman up as she grabbed her legs and bore down, a harsh scream echoing through the small room. Suddenly she relaxed and Sam looked down to see Daniel holding a squirming mass. Frank handed him a towel and he wiped the baby clean, stimulating it into a warbling cry. "It's a girl," Daniel said, laying the baby down on Susan's stomach. 

The woman reached down and tentatively stroked the wrinkled, red skin. Daniel efficiently dealt with cutting the cord and the delivery of the afterbirth, then stepped back, wiping his hands off on another towel.  
Brian knelt by the side of the bed and used a damp cloth to further clean the baby, who was now nestling in her mother's grasp, her mouth locked upon the woman's nipple.

Sam eased herself off the bed and away from the small group, her eyes set upon the eternal sight of mother and child. They'd done it. They'd actually brought another life into this world. But what a world? What future did she have? Struggling to survive, always on the alert for an attack. Forever afraid that someone was going to find out that some of the Tau'ri were alive and come and finish them off. Or even worse, she could die from the measles or the mumps or even a simple scratch.

They had no medicines here, nothing more than a few field first aid kits. She remembered the odds, that in the past most children died before their first birthday. That little baby was going to have to struggle and fight for everything she'd ever have.

Feeling someone push past her, she looked to see the small stream of visitors, all eager to meet the newest arrival. She turned and left, walking away from the group and towards the edge of town.

"It sounds like congratulations are in order." 

She turned towards the voice, quickly brushing the stray tear off her cheeks. "Jack. I didn't know you came too," she said, seeing the man walking beside her.

"Carter and Teal'c are around here somewhere," he said. "As soon as we got Harlan's message, we just turned a 180 and came straight here," he explained. "Everything ok?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"You don't sound too pleased."

"It's just…what kind of world has she been born into?" she asked, stopping and looking him in the eyes. "I mean look at us. We're living off bartered supplies. There's some fruit and nuts around here, but everyday we have to go further and further afield to find it. A few months ago the game dried up and we had no meat for a month until they came back. Harry Miller almost lost his leg when something bit him and it got infected. Last winter so many people got sick that we were afraid that we'd all die, luckily winter only lasted a couple of months this year, but what about the next? This isn't a life, it's an existence," she said. "You know what the odds are that that baby won't even survive to see her first birthday? Not to mention the fact that only fifty people are not a broad enough gene pool to create a viable society."

Jack rolled his eyes and cocked his eyebrow. "Ya know….you are way too negative. Although after spending some time with Jacob, I can see where you get it from. Look, " he said, abruptly changing the subject. "We were talking with Jacob the other day and we have an idea."

"We're not moving in with the Tok'ra, or to any of their civilian bases," she said.

He shook his head. "Not that. Selmac thinks that since the virus only affected humans, the humans are gone…"

"The virus could still be there," she said. "When they opened Tut's tomb they released viruses and bacteria that had been sealed in for millennia."

"The place might still be contaminated…but that's something that won't effect us. We want to go back, get some supplies. Jacob said they got a hold of a Hatak ship so we'd have plenty of cargo room. Hell, we could bring back the contents of whole department stores. Think about it, food, clothing, drugs," he said.

"You could be bringing back a time bomb. That stuff could be contaminated with the virus," she said.

"We won't know that until we get there. Isn't it worth a try?"

Sam paused and thought, tempted by the riches that he offered. There had been some looting she knew, but there had to be whole warehouses full of canned goods, enough food to last their small group for years, if not forever. Enough clothing and bedding to last nearly as long. Even better than that, maybe they could find looms and material to make their own cloth. 

Any drugs they brought back would eventually expire, but if they also brought back lab equipment, surely they could synthesize their own. They could bring back material to make solar generators and they'd have electricity again. Books and databases full of knowledge. They could even raid Fort Knox and being back gold, enough to trade with some of their planets for other things they needed. And weapons…enough weapons to guard their outpost.

She looked at him, feeling a stirring of hope for the first time. Then reality set in and she shook her head. "No. It won't work. Earth is a week away by hyperspace. Your batteries only last forty eight hours."

"Not if we shut down," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"We're able to shut ourselves down, basically exist on trickle power. That's what Daniel did right before the kid shot him. If we do that for the flight there and back, that'll save us some power. And Jacob told Carter about your naquadah reactor and she's managed to cobble together spare batteries for us. She's rigged a way to charge them from the ship's power so…as long as we have the Hatak ship, we've got a pretty long leash. We could spend days or weeks foraging."

"You're willing to do that?" she asked, realizing the trust he was placing in Jacob and the Tok'ra. Asleep, the robots would be totally defenseless. The Tok'ra could chuck them out an airlock, or simply never wake them up. It was a level of trust her Jack had never developed towards the Tok'ra.

"Yeah. Look, if it weren't for you guys, we'd be dead or in the hands of Cronos right now. We all want to do this; we've been tinkering with the idea for weeks. And…well frankly, we want to go home, even if it isn't the home we once knew. These people may not be the SGC we remember, but they ARE SGC. We take care of our own," he finished as the rest of SG-1 joined them.

"We need to go soon, sir," Carter said, pointedly looking at her watch.

"Yeah. Think about it?" he said to Sam.

"I will, Jack, thanks," she said sincerely. The quartet turned and walked towards the gate. "Daniel," she called, making them look back. "What did she name her?" she asked.

"Gaia Dawn," he called, then waved and hurried after his teammates.

'It's a sign,' Talya said.

'It's a name…do you really thing it'll work?'

'I don't see why not.'

'Talya, what if what they bring back is contaminated? What if it kills us all?'

'What if an asteroid hits this place in the morning?' Talya reasoned. 'Samantha, your own people have a saying, nothing ventured, nothing gained. If they don't go things will continue like it is…if they do it will change. It's not just your choice, what do you think they want?' Sam looked at the group of people, still filing in and out of the small home, all eager to see the baby. She heard the muffled laughter and conversation filtering from the group…and she knew what she had to do.

<><><><><>

A dull roar drew Sam's attention and she looked up, holding her hand to shade her eyes. Her heart stopped as she saw the tell tale shadow of a Hatak ship descending through the atmosphere. 'They're back,' Talya said.

'That, or the goa'uld have found us,' Sam replied, setting down her basket of berries that she'd been picking and starting down the hillside. They'd found large quantities of berry bushes, reminiscent of Earth raspberries and blueberries growing on some of the hills. The fruit constantly ripened during the summer and the refugees had taken to picking and drying it to provide them with some nourishment during the winter.

'Jack is right, you're too negative,' Talya teased.

She arrived just as the Hatak set down about a mile away from the village. The refugees were standing outside their homes, some grasping their guns. She saw a door on the side of the massive ship open and three figures stride out.

'Told ya,' Talya teased. 

Sam ignored her and hurried forward. When she reached them, Jacob pulled her into a hug. "Hey, kid. How's things going?" 

Sam glanced cautiously at her duplicate, then seeing no animosity in the woman's gaze, heartily returned the hug. "We're fine, dad. Is everything ok? Where are Daniel and Teal'c?" she asked, noticing who was missing.

"They're with our surprise," he said, pulling back a bit.

"Surprise?"

"It turns out you were wrong," Carter said. "The virus wasn't one hundred percent fatal."

"Pretty much," Jack said.

"What? You mean there were survivors?" Sam asked.

"Just a few," Selmac said. "We scanned the whole planet and found less than five thousand people, some grouped together, some scattered. We approached those that would listen and offered them the chance to come with us."

"Five thousand?" Sam asked, trying to imagine their group absorbing that many lost souls.

"Only about a hundred agreed," Jack said. "Most of the rest…well they either thought we were gonna kill them and ran or were sitting pretty and didn't want to give it up," Jack replied sardonically.

"Feudal warlords, petty dictators…kinda reminded me of 'The Stand'," Sam explained. "We've got a lot of scared women and children, survivors that fled the cities and such. Some of them are in pretty rough shape."

Sam turned to the rest of the refugees that had gathered around them. "Ya got survivors?" Castleman asked.

"Yes. We were wondering if you could put them up here for a bit and then…"

"Hell no," he interrupted Jacob.

"Major?" Sam asked. 

"You're not taking them anywhere. They're Tau'ri…they belong with us," he said, his sentiments chorused by the rest of the refugees.

Jacob smiled and Jack's eyes unfocused for a second, then the door to the Hatak opened and people spilled out, led by Daniel and Teal'c.

Sam stood there as the refugees from the SGC flowed around her, each of them taking one of the newcomers under their wing and pulled them towards the encampment.

"The ship is loaded to the rafters," Jacob said, pulling her attention back to the people in front of her. "Food, clothing, medical supplies…anything you can imagine, we probably got it."

"And this," Carter held out something to Sam who took it.

"A GDO?"

"Better. Colorado Springs was totally dead, no humans at all. And there is no trace of the virus. We moved the iris; you can dial Earth again. And this will open it from this side of the wormhole. The base is totally sealed off and the nearest group of militant survivors is on the coasts so…it's relatively safe. We figured you could maybe use the SGC as a fall back position or a storage facility or something."

Sam stared at the device in her hand, realizing that more options had just been opened up to them. 

"We brought ya something else," Jack said, holding out a large bag. Sam took it, her heart plunging as she recognized the slight clanking sound if its contents. She looked up, her eyes stricken. "We thought you might want them," he said, referring to the hundreds of dog tags…the very same items she'd painstakingly removed from each of the bodies of her comrades before zatting their bodies into non-existence.  
She clutched the bag to her chest, feeling an odd sense of completion. "I do, thank you," she said.

"If you don't mind the company for a few days, we brought some Tok'ra crystals. We thought we could grow you some tunnels and then ring the supplies down," Jacob said.

Sam smiled. "That would be great dad," she said, this time pulling him into a hug. "But, we can do that in the morning…why don't you guys join us for dinner," she invited.

  
<><><><><>

  
Sam walked through the deserted compound, balancing the black bag and a squirming bundle. She'd been designated babysitter and was caring for little Gaia and the other children, while the rest of the refugees, both old and new, worked to stow the supplies. 

She watched the half dozen older children run and play in the clearing in the center of their compound, chasing a stray ball that she just knew Jack had to have made sure was brought from Earth. It was as if the camp had been transformed overnight. Not only the influx of people and supplies, but also an infusion of hope. The future no longer looked quite as bleak as it had just the day before. 

She sat under the shade of a large tree that occupied the center of the clearing, carefully laying Gaia down on a small blanket. Making sure that the child was content, Sam opened the bag, lazily running her fingers over the pile of small metal bits. So many, she'd forgotten how many there were. She picked up one of the tags and read the name, trying to remember the person's face. She couldn't.

"What are those?" one of the children asked, stopping his play and standing before Sam.

"What?"

"What is it?" he asked, plucking a tag from the bag.

"It…it belonged to a friend of mine," Sam answered simply. "He died."

"My friends died too," the boy said, his face sad.

  
"So did mine," a girl said, joining them. She knelt on the ground and started to play with Gaia, who gurgled in glee. She picked up on of the tags and held it in front of the baby, the shiny object catching the infant's attention. Gaia reached out one chubby hand, trying to capture the tag. The little girl reached back and pulled a tattered ribbon from her hair. She threaded the tag onto the ribbon, then suspended it over the child. Gaia giggled and tried to catch it, her arms and legs waving in the air.

Sam watched, smiling despite herself at the innocence of the two children. They didn't see the dog tag as a reminder of one who'd died; rather they simply saw it as a pretty plaything.

'What are you thinking?' Talya asked.

Sam ignored her and got to her feet. She told the children to keep an eye on Gaia and hurried into one of the buildings. She returned a few minutes later, several large spools of twine in her hands. Quickly giving the children instructions, they set about playing a new game.

  
<><><><><>

  
Jacob exited the tunnels, his eyes squinting in response to the evening light. They'd gotten a lot of work done today, and he figured that another day or two and they'd have all the supplies stowed. He paused, not quite sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Sam was climbing a stepladder, reaching into the lower branches of the large tree in the center of the compound. 

"We got a lot of work done today," Jack said, coming to stand by Jacob. "What's she doing?"

"I have no idea," Jacob said.

"You didn't tell her yet did you?" He asked.

"No. I told you, I was going to do it tonight," Jacob answered. He started forward, the rest of SG-1 following him. As he got closer he could see that she was taking something from the children and hanging them in the tree. "Sam!" he called, causing her to turn her head sharply. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, dad…hi." She hopped down from the stepladder, something shiny dangling from her fingertips.

Carter reached forward and took one of the items from one of the children. "Dog tags? Why?"

Sam looked down then shrugged. "It just…. I don't know."

"I believe it is an appropriate memorial," Teal'c said, taking the macabre ornaments from one of the children and climbing the ladder. He reached up higher than Sam had been able to and hung them from the branches.

"Yeah," Daniel said. "Jack, give me a hand up," he requested. Jack complied and Daniel scampered up into the branches. Gaia started to cry and Sam picked her up. She stood beside her father and watched SG-1 adorn the tree with the small, glittering tags. The refugees emerging from the tunnels were drawn by the commotion and soon the entire population of the encampment were gathered around the tree, watching the antics of the robots. 

It didn't take them long to finish the job and soon they stood beside her, admiring their work. The sun started to set, painting the metal bits with warm, crimson light. A breeze stirred the trees, making some of the tags knock into each other, their faint twinkling music filling the air. 

"Sam," Jacob said after a moment.

  
"Yeah," she replied absently as Susan approached and reclaimed her daughter from Sam's arms.

Jacob reached into his tunic and pulled out a crystal. "On the way back from Earth, we took a little side trip to the Moon. We scanned it and…we know who did it." He held the crystal out to her. "All the information's in there." Sam tore her eyes from the sparkling tree and stared at the crystal, not taking it from his hand. "Sam?" he asked, surprised by her reaction. He expected her to jump on the information, not treat it like he was offering her a poison snake.

"It can wait," she said, sliding her arm around his waist and pulling him close. "It can wait."

  
~Fin~

 

 


	3. Natus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now knowing who killed Earth, Sam has to decide between revenge or life

Nautus

By

Adi and Denise

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The tree, which stood proudly at the center of the clearing, had been stripped of its natural children. The green leaves had turned yellow, red and brown, and then fallen off.

 

The tree still stood proudly however, holding its immortal foster children aloft with the same care it had shown its own. The metal tags sparkled in the moonlight, making the tree look as though stars had been caught in its branches. Occasionally the wind would caress these man-made stars and cause them to gently touch each other creating a small orchestra that filled the clearing.

 

  The snow around the tree's roots was trampled and covered with footprints, and its bark had already been brutalized in the name of love. Two pairs of initials inside a heart had been carved into the trunk under one of the lower branches.

 

  One by one the stars in the tree faded as the moon bid them good night and sank beneath the horizon. For a few moments the world held its breath, frozen in darkness, then, almost surprisingly, a thin pink line appeared, just above the ground, across from where the moon had disappeared. Slowly the thin line thickened and the metal stars were transformed into pink flowers, and for a few minutes the proud tree bloomed in the dead of winter.

 

  She paused for a moment then, watching this miracle of man and nature. Her breath left her lips in small clouds of condensation. A stray beam of light caught the crystal around her neck and added to the light show, bringing her into the miracle. A heartbeat, a breath, a moment, and it was over. The pink gave way to yellow, the dawn gave way to day, and the spell was broken. With a sigh she pulled her shawl closer and continued her trek.

 

Behind her the wind picked up and weaved through the tree's branches, causing it to wave a sad farewell accompanied by the soft tinkling of its foster children.

 

<><><><><> 

 

  Her feet were cold. Actually her whole body was cold but it seemed that the sensation was localized in her feet. The sound of the snow crunching under her shoes, which had seemed so loud before dawn, was now barely audible underneath the sounds of the black crow-like birds that had migrated in with the winter and, if history repeated itself, would leave at the first sign of spring. There were times Sam thought the planet wanted to make sure they knew it wasn't earth.

 

  It had been almost half an earth year since the robots had brought the survivors to this planet and reopened the earth gate. Thanks to the stockpiles they had quickly gathered from the warehouses and even the rare stores that hadn't been pillaged, this winter was a lot easier than the last one. For a while there had even been talk about moving the base back to earth. It was mostly the ex-SGC personnel that wanted to make the move. The survivors all knew that there was very little on earth. Sam had kept quiet during these discussions; she would never return to earth if she could help it.

 

  It was the first supply run that decided it. They had come back, loaded with clothing, canned foods, equipment, and books. They returned pale, tired, some had cried. Earth was now a mass grave, a dead world. In the end the decision had been unanimous. They would stay.

 

  She stumbled and fell, just managing to break her fall with her hands. The wind picked up her shawl and dragged it back along the path she had just walked until it was caught in a tree branch. Cursing, Sam picked herself up and backtracked a few steps, snatching the shawl from the offending branch with enough force to tear the hand woven material. Part of her wanted to just abandon the damned thing…but it'd been a gift from Gaia's mother and it would offend the woman horribly if Sam just discarded it.

 

  'Irritable aren't we?' Atalya had been quiet all morning, hoping her host's bad mood would dissipate once she woke up a little. It hadn't. 'Why does going to the Tok'ra bother you so much?'

 

  'It doesn't,' Sam replied. 'I'm just cold and tired and hungry and …'

 

  'You wanted to stay in bed a few more hours?'  Sam frowned at the teasing tone in her friend's voice. 'We didn't have to leave so early you know. Revanna will still be there after lunch.'

 

  Sam shrugged mentally and rubbed her hands together, blowing into them as she walked. 'Cause then we'd get to Revanna in the middle of the night, and I'd rather not try and find the Tok'ra base at night.'

 

  Finally the Stargate came into view. Soon she would be warm again. Bending over the DHD to hit the glyphs, the light reflecting off her crystal caught her eye. The crystal with the information her father had gotten back from Earth's moon. Information that had proved useless, incriminating a goa'uld that hadn't been seen or heard in millennia. Sam sighed and tucked the gem under her shirt. They would not get their vengeance. Unless you believed the old proverb that said the best revenge is living well.

 

  The last glyph lit and the whirlpool whooshed out, then settled into a blue vertical pool. They were living well, or as well as they could. It really didn't make Sam feel any better.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

  Jacob unconsciously twisted his wrist, making a face when he saw nothing but bare skin. 'She's here when she's here,' Selmac said, her 'voice' full of amusement.

 

  'Why don't the Tok'ra have time keeping devices?' Jacob complained. 'You claim to be advanced but even the Tau'ri managed to invent digital watches.'

 

  'You invented nuclear weapons too,' she reminded.

 

  "Jacob," Asha said walking towards him. "Atalya has arrived,"

 

  'I hope Sam's with her,' Jacob groused. "Thank you," he replied aloud, walking past her towards the rings. 'You still haven’t told me why you don't have watches,' Jacob said, activating the controls to ring to the surface.

 

  'Do you really want the long drawn out explanation of the absurdity of having a time device when the length of a day varies from planet to planet?' she asked.

 

  'Save it for the next time I have insomnia,' Jacob said, walking across the grassy plains towards the gate. He watched Sam walking towards him, taking a heavy shawl from around her shoulders as she walked. 'That's right; it's winter on the Alpha Site, isn't it?'

 

  'Yes. Amazingly enough not every planet has the same seasons at the same time either,' Selmac said.

 

  'Smartass, Jacob said, grinning a bit. "Sam," he called out.

 

  She raised her arm and waved at him, picking up her pace a bit. "How are you doing?" she asked, wrapping her arm around his waist in a half hug.

 

  "Good, kid, good. How about you?" Jacob replied, returning the embrace.

 

  "Can't complain. Anything interesting happening?" she asked, falling into step beside him.

 

  He shrugged. "Depends on what you called interesting," he said. "Cremon's taking a little vacation, Aldwin's got a thing for Asha and one of Anise's experiments got away from her," he said.

 

  "Nothing horrible, I hope," she said.

 

  He shook his head. "No, not too bad. And the rash should go away in a couple of weeks." She laughed a bit, the sound lifting Jacob's heart. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard the sound. "You think that's good…Martouf brought back some beef."

 

  "Beef? Where did you get that?"

 

  "Foraging on a planet. Up for a little Tok'ra barbecue?"

 

  "I can't wait," she said following him to the rings and down into the complex.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

Acrid smoke wafted across the barren landscape, stirred by a sluggish breeze. Jack didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse, the breeze. It did clear the smoke and aided their vision…but it also carried with it a smell he was all too familiar with. Death.

 

Death was everywhere on this planet, Its once clean and pure lines distorted and blackened. Skeletal fingers of buildings poked out of the mists; almost as though the structures themselves were supplicating, begging for mercy.

 

His sharp eyes caught sight of bodies among the rubble, needlessly confirming what his olfactory sensors were telling him. Women, children…some were recognizable as once being humans, others were simple shapeless hunks of smoldering flesh.

 

"What the hell happened?" Daniel asked, his voice barely above a whisper. That seemed appropriate here, whispering, the need to stay quiet, either out of respect, or fear.

 

"They were massacred," Sam said softly, her eyes darting around, never settling on any one place for too long. Not again. This wasn't fair. The Tollan had just found a new home.

 

"Tollana was no threat," Teal'c said.

 

"Ya don't gotta be a threat to piss off the goa'uld anymore," Jack said.

 

"You think a goa'uld did this?" Daniel asked.

 

"I hope so," Jack said.

 

"Why?"

 

"Because, Daniel, if they didn't, then we have something else running around the universe that's just as bad," Sam said, her voice quivering slightly at the thought. It shouldn't, she knew that. She could blame Harlan's excellent programming skills for the emotions roiling through her gut at the moment.

 

"Worse," Teal'c corrected. "When the goa'uld attack, their goal is to acquire riches and slaves, not to massacre."

 

"Someone had to survive," Daniel said.

 

Jack looked to the rest of his team, agreeing with the doubt he saw in their faces. Tollana was silent, eerily, deathly silent, only the odd crackle of flames and the occasional rumble of a collapsing building breaking the quiet. "Maybe on the outskirts of town," he said, not really believing that they'd find anything but more death.

 

With a solemn nod, they all agreed, turning and carefully picking their way through the rubble and once clean streets of the alien city.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

  Sam walked along the gravel path, her boots crunching as she traversed the coarse rock. A gentle breeze caressed her skin, keeping the warmth of the sun down to manageable proportions. She shook her head and her hair tousled, settling around her face, strands of it getting caught behind her sunglasses.

 

  She sighed and rolled her shoulders, feeling the stress melt away. She loved to do this, coming outside, away from the stress and pressures of the mountain.  She could smell the tang of evergreen and fir trees, the warm sweetness of the rocky earth surrounding her.

 

  The sun kissed her skin, soaking into her bones and spreading a feeling of contentment that reached into the depths of her soul.

 

  This was what she needed more than anything, to be alone and relax. She loved her job, she really did. It hadn't taken her long to discover that she was the personality that thrived on challenges and pressure. A friend at the academy had once accused her of being like carbon, needing the pressure and stress of the Earth to bring out the diamond within, and even then, needing the care and skill of another to bring out the true beauty hidden inside an easy to ignore surface.

 

  She'd laughed at her friend, blaming the poetics on too many margaritas.

 

  She also loved her friends. It amazed her that she found three so different men to be fast and intimate companions.

 

  She and Daniel had connected so easily in the beginning, each finding a kindred soul, both thirsty for knowledge and in awe of the whole thing. More than once he'd asked her advice on things, seeking her counsel in fitting into the military environment they now lived in.

 

Teal'c…Teal'c was so special. He'd scared her at first, if she was honest. It wasn't just his size, although that had something to do with it.

 

  It was actually Jolinar that'd brought them together and cemented their friendship. He'd made time for her then, patiently answering her questions and soothing her fears. He, more than anyone she knew, understood what had happened to her and their bond of the sixth sense inspiring naquadah had become such a part of her that she discovered that she actually missed it when he took time off and was gone for days.

 

  And then there was the colonel, friend, mentor, leader and supporter, all rolled into one lanky, sarcastic ball. She'd been so on edge the first time she'd met him, trying to reconcile her mental images from his reports to the officer she found at the head of the table in the briefing room.

 

  They'd gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, but fortunately it hadn't lasted long, hero worship growing into mutual respect and trust. He was one of the best commanders she'd ever had, never forgetting that she was a woman but never treating her like she was 'the girl'.

 

  A loud sound pulled her from her reverie, making her look around. Maybe they were practicing artillery at Ft. Carson, she thought, frowning a bit.

 

  She heard it again, this time louder. What the hell were they doing over there? They weren't supposed to be playing around with explosives too close to the highway; it was a hazard and a risk to the civilian population.

 

  The thumping sounds grew louder and closer, starting to shake the earth under her feet. A heavy weight settled on her shoulder, giving her a firm shake. "Sam!"

 

  Her eyes flew open and she squinted in the sunlight. "What?"

 

  Jacob knelt before her, his hand on her shoulder. "Sam, wake up," he said urgently.

 

  "Dad?" She looked around. They'd come to the surface, Jacob declaring that the all too rare delicacy of beef was something that needed to be cooked over an open fire. Of course, the fact that Garshaw found the smell of cooking meat nauseating might also have had something to do with it.

 

  They'd barbecued and eaten, enjoying the familiar activities. Her stomach full, she'd lay down in a warm patch of sun and fallen asleep.

 

  "We're under attack," he said urgently, pulling her to her feet. "The evac ship is on its way, we need to get underground and help pack."

 

  'Talya,' Sam said desperately, waking the symbiote from her slumber.

 

  'Go,' the creature urged, sending a surge of adrenaline through Sam's system, the substance immediately clearing the cobwebs from her brain. She followed her father as they ran for the rings, zigging and zagging as they dodged the incoming fire. "That's ours," Jacob said as she skidded to a halt, staring in horror at the hatak ship hovering over the rings. Death gliders buzzed around the massive pyramid ship like flies around a corpse.

 

  Shaking her head to banish the dark thoughts, she followed him into the rings, transported beneath the surface of the planet to the barely organized chaos of an evacuation. "We've got to clear out the labs," Jacob said, leading the way to the laboratory level. Not having anything else to do, Sam followed him, ducking around the scurrying refugees.

 

  "What have you got in here?" she demanded, staring at the large collection of beakers and bottles. They had a lab that would put Area 51 to shame.

 

  "A little of everything," Jacob said. "Look, can you help Anise and Ren'al pack this stuff up? I need to go check on Garshaw." Sam nodded and Jacob left.

 

  "Here," Anise shoved a large box into Sam's arms. "Put those in this," she instructed.

 

  'What is this stuff?' Sam asked Talya, quickly filling the bottom of the case with bottles of various colored substances. Most of the labels were in an alien language, the language of Freya's people, Sam guessed.

 

  'Various botanicals,' Talya said, translating some of the labels. 'Perhaps difficult to replace, but not worth dying over.'

 

  'Scientists,' Sam quipped as she finished with one table's worth of bottles. Still having room in her box, she moved to another table, carefully putting more containers into the box. As she worked, the thumping sound got louder and closer, raining dust and debris down on their heads.

 

  "We do not have much time," Ren'al said, handing her box over to a passing Tok'ra with instructions to deliver it to the rings.

 

  "The goa'uld cannot gain possession of these items," Anise said. "It would be disastrous to all of us."

 

  'Talya?' Sam asked, puzzled. There didn't seem to be anything spectacular here.

 

  'Anise has a flare for the dramatic,' she said. 'Or more accurately Freya; she was very young when they blended.'

 

  'Fascinating,' Sam said, hefting the heavy box and hurrying from the room. She stumbled as she walked, the concussions from the aerial bombardment having weakened the ceiling structure and support. 'One direct hit and this place is going to come down on our heads.'

 

  'I concur. And those are only weapons from the Death Gliders. Weapons fire from the hatak will easily breach this facility,' Talya said. 'Find your father and get up to our hatak,' she instructed.

 

  'Shouldn't we keep helping?'

 

  'The Tok'ra are well versed at evacuation. They can take care of themselves. Find Jacob,' she ordered.

 

  With a shrug and for once not wanting to argue with her, Sam set down the box in the rings and moved away. 'Where did he go?'

 

  'Garshaw's chambers are this way,' Talya said, giving Sam a mental nudge.

 

  Sam followed her symbiote's directions, fighting her way against the tide of fleeing Tok'ra. She stumbled, cursing as she cut her hand on a protruding piece of crystal.

 

  She heard the thumps again grow louder as the death gliders came around for another run, this time their bombs striking immediately overhead. Huge chunks of the ceiling broke loose, giving way under the stress. 'LOOK OUT!' Talya screamed, wresting control from Sam and throwing their body to the other side of the chamber. All Sam got was the barest glimpse of the ceiling caving in before darkness swept over her.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

They appeared like specters from the mist. Ghostly figures, silhouettes quickly talking form. His heart lurched and his hands tightened around the metal rod in his hand. It was a pathetic weapon, ineffectual at best…it was all he had, all they had.

 

He hadn't been sure how to fight, hadn't quite known how to defend himself. Fortunately, some things were instinctual. And some instincts survived centuries of placidity and technical dependence.

 

They came closer and he held his breath, furiously blinking his eyes to clear his vision. They burned, his eyes. Too much smoke and too little sleep had turned them into painful, burning orbs. They watered a little, but not enough. Never enough. He couldn't cry, didn't dare to cry. He couldn't afford the tears. Not just because clean water was too precious to waste, but also because he couldn't cry. Crying was weak and he couldn't be weak. He had to be strong. Strength was what mattered. Strength was the only advantage he had, feeble though it may be.

 

They walked past him and hesitated, seemingly torn between which direction to go. He waited, watching as they whispered among themselves. Finally reaching an agreement, they veered left. No. Not that way. They couldn't go that way. They'd find them. He couldn't let them find them.

 

With a feral cry, he leapt from his hiding place, his weapon held high. They turned, a quartet of weapons coming to bear on him. They would kill him, but he didn't care. As long as he kept them from finding the others. As long as the others heard his cry and had time to hide.

 

Much to his surprise, he wasn't cut down. No fiery blasts tore through his body. One of the figures stepped forward, his dark hands easily disarming him and subduing him. "Narim? Narim?" A voice cut through his fear and another hand grabbed his chin, forcing him to look in their eyes. "Narim, it's me."

 

He blinked, forcing his eyes to focus, hoping against hope that he was not imagining things. "Sam…Samantha?"

 

"Yeah, it's me," she said. The arms holding him let him go and he staggered, kept from falling only by her hand on his arm. "What happened?"

 

Narim looked at her, then at the others, half expecting them to disappear, to vanish back into the smoke and death that was now his world.

 

"Narim!" O'Neill's voice pulled him to the present, cutting through his haze of exhaustion. "What happened?"

 

"They…they attacked. Our cannons…they didn't work, they were destroyed before they could be fired. Flames from the sky…burning…everything was burning. Everything…they screamed, they were burned alive, flaming people walking down the streets…" His voice faded and he looked away, still seeing the specters staggering down the streets, arms waving futily, begging for mercy that never came.

 

"Are there others?" Doctor Jackson asked.

 

"Others?" How did they know about the others? How did they…it was a secret, had to be a secret.

 

"Other survivors," Samantha said. "Have you seen anyone else?"

 

He remained silent. He couldn't betray them, he had to protect them.

 

"We know somewhere where they can go," O'Neill said. "Somewhere safe."

 

"Safe?" Was anyplace safe anymore?

 

"Safe," Samantha said, smiling as she stepped forward. "We'll take them somewhere safe, I promise you," she said softly. "Can you take us to them?"

 

Safe. He promised to keep them safe. They wouldn't be safe here, not anymore. They'd die, he couldn't let them die.  Safe, he had to take them somewhere safe. Slowly, he nodded. Samantha took his hand. "I'll stay with you. Just take us to them," she said.

 

Comforted by her strong grasp, he started to walk.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

  Talya fought the nearly overwhelming darkness, tapping into her unconscious host's senses to orientate herself. She found the source of Sam's stupourous state, a large contusion on her brain. She concentrated on mending it, knowing that if she didn't they would both die, but also knowing that by remaining in the complex she was risking both of their lives.

 

  The ground forces would come soon, and unless they wanted to be captured or killed, they needed to be somewhere else.

 

  She heard people scurrying around her, running and caught occasional snatches of conversation. No one stopped to assist them and she didn't know if it was because no one saw them, or that they looked dead.

 

  Hearing the distant whump of staff weapon fire, she knew the base had been breeched. Choosing survival over finesse, she clumsily stemmed the bleeding in Sam's skull, exerting full control to open her host's eyes.

 

  She staggered to her feet, ignoring the pain emanating from Sam's body. There'd be time for that later, right now she needed to get them to safety. She made her way down the corridor, her heart breaking as she passed other victims, some of them horribly mangled under piles of rubble.

 

  Hearing Jaffa coming down the corridor, she ducked into a small alcove desperately hoping that they wouldn't sense her presence. She felt Sam start to stir and clamped down on her control, freezing her body to keep her quiet. 'Talya?'

 

  'Hush. You were injured. The base has been invaded,' she briefed, ducking down as more Jaffa walked past.

 

  'What are our chances?' Sam asked.

 

  'I do not know. If this is just a raid, they may leave soon. But if this is a full attack…'

 

  'They'll sweep the planet,' Sam finished grimly.

 

  "Tok'ra kree!" a voice growled. Giving into temptation, Sam peeked around the threshold, her heart falling as she saw prisoners being led down the corridor.

 

  'Damn.'

 

  'It was inevitable,' Talya soothed.

 

  'No." Sam's heart lurched as her eyes caught sight of a familiar bald pate among the prisoners. 'Dad.'

 

  'Samantha, you cannot help him now,' Talya said. 'We can mount a rescue later.'

 

  'How? We don't even know who's running this raid.'

 

  'We will find out.'

 

  'Damn right we will,' Sam said, clumsily getting to her feet, her hand pulling a loose piece of crystal off the walls, the clatter of it hitting the floor echoing like a gunshot.

 

  'Samantha!' Talya wrested control from her host. 'You are not thinking clearly.' She felt her host rage, fighting for control with a strength that she'd never experienced before. Her anger pummeled Talya, beating at her like a storm driven wind, buffeting her, pushing her back. She clung to control, struggling to maintain it, to keep it.

 

  With one final burst of rage, Sam pushed Talya away, wresting control from her.

 

Sam fell to her knees, moaning as pain stabbed through her head. Her instincts screaming for her to hide, she flailed, trying to stand and failing. The ground shook again. Crystal tiles falling like rain around her. More of the ceiling collapsed, bringing down the earth above it in large clumps, sealing her off from the Jaffa. The noise around her was as deafening as the silence within. And for the second time in less then an hour Sam lost consciousness.

 

 

 

  He was smiling down at her his hand outstretched. "Come on Carter." He was smiling and he had his sunglasses on so she couldn't see his eyes. Daniel stood behind him, Teal'c had his back to her, he must have been keeping watch. "We can't lounge around all day." She wondered why he was wearing his shades inside, but there was no time to ask. She reached out and grabbed his hand, letting him help her up. She was dizzy, and her stomach flipped but after a moment she was fine. "Ok?" he asked her, his hand on her shoulder. She nodded. "All right then, let's go." He smiled again. "Dad needs our help. They probably took the prisoners outside."

 

  The ceiling and earth that had separated Sam from the Jaffa had also separated her from the only exit. They had to crawl around and through the debris, slowly picking their way across the bodies, making detour after detour, probably going through every area of the complex. There are so many of them, Sam thought as she grabbed a zat gun from one of the bodies, the Tok'ra will never recover.

 

  The tunnels were more or less abandoned, the Jaffa troops making one last round; picking up the stragglers, the few Tok'ra that had managed to elude the Jaffa and had became trapped in the tunnels. Once in a while a firefight would break out, but it would end quickly. She didn't have to be there to know the outcomes.

 

  Jack took point, looking around corners, motioning them when to stop, when to go, when to hide. Teal'c watched their backs, telling them to stop just as often as Jack did. Daniel was a firm presence at her side, holding her up against the wall when she got dizzy, picking up the zat gun when she dropped it. Together they managed to make their way to the entrance. Bodies and body parts of Jaffa were scattered around the rings like horseshoes. At least one of the Tok'ra had already been there and had managed to get out; at least she hoped they managed to get out. Either way they had left a clear path for them to the rings.

 

She stumbled over a body and looked down, dispassionately recognizing the tattoo on the Jaffa's forehead. It looked familiar, yet…it shouldn’t be here. No Jaffa had worn this mark in ten thousand years. Daniel's hand tightened on her arm and she turned away, obediently following him. That tattoo meant something, something important, if she could just remember what it was.

 

  "We don't know what's up there," Jack reminded as they walked into the rings. "So when we get up top, make for the trees."

 

  "Yes, sir," Sam acknowledged along with Teal'c's 'Indeed' and Daniel's 'Ok'.

 

  "Once we reach the shelter of the trees we'll work on finding and rescuing the prisoners," he reassured her. She smiled at him and nodded then wished she hadn't as the pain lanced through her head as though her brain knocked against her skull. She got the sensation that there was something she needed to remember, something important, but as the rings activated she forgot everything except the need to run, run hard and run fast and run to the trees. They would make it, she knew. They were SG-1; they were unbreakable.

 

  In a flash the drab black and gray walls of the tunnels were replaced by ridiculously inappropriate blue skies and green treetops. Then all she knew was her feet pounding on the ground, her lungs heaving, the tree-line getting closer and closer. A shot rang out behind her and the rock beside her exploded. Dust rose into her eyes and she stumbled, but managed to keep her balance and keep running. Running blindly towards the trees.

 

  Another staff blast, this one farther away, but she didn't dare look behind her, didn't dare look back, just kept running, and running. She was almost there. Almost in the relative safety of the trees, just another few yards, another few feet.

 

  She made it. She had made it into the trees, but she kept running, not stopping until she tripped over a root and crashed into the ground, breathing hard, rasping breaths.

 

Coughing out the dust she had inhaled on impact, Sam scurried to the side, hiding behind a tree as she stopped to catch her breath.

 

  That was when she realized she was alone.

 

  Her chest hurt, her ankle throbbed, and there was something wrong with her head, though she wasn't sure what. It wasn't pain but it was uncomfortable. Something dripped on the back of her hand, red, blood. Her blood? She wiped it off but couldn't see any wounds. Another drip, this time she saw it falling from above. Sam didn’t look up, didn't want to look up. She knew what was there; she looked up, and promptly threw up. Dead bodies were bad, pieces of dead bodies were worse, pieces of dead bodies up in trees was too much for her right now.

 

She got up and ran further into the forest, not caring about the pain in her ankle, not caring about her father and the rest of the Tok'ra; she just wanted to rest, to sleep. She wasn't really watching where she was going so she wasn't really surprised when she crashed into something solid. However she wasn't expecting it to have arms and legs, and she definitely wasn't expecting it to hold her so tightly she couldn't escape. The more she struggled the tighter the grip became and after a few moments she thought she heard her name being called through the fog in her head.

 

  "Samantha!" She heard the something solid call. "Samantha, it's me, Martouf."

 

  Sam stopped struggling, she recognized Martouf. Martouf was a safe name; Martouf was good. "Martouf?" she whispered, gasping for air.

 

  "Yes." His soft voice calmed her, slowly. "Are you hurt?" He was softly stroking her hair, but her heart was still beating wildly, her ankle still throbbed, and the she could see the tree tops from where he was holding her in his lap. She rolled over and threw up. "Samantha..." She could feel his hand on her back, cool through the material of her shirt. She wanted to cry, but she didn't cry anymore, she'd lost all her tears when... when? Why was it so hard to think?

 

  She felt Martouf's fingers in her hair, touching something painful, but she didn't have the energy to pull away. "Samantha you may have a concussion. Is Atalya healing it?"

 

  "Who?" It was just so hard to think. Why was the world spinning? Why was she on the ground? Where the hell were her friends? Something pulled her up and she let it, so much easier than to fight.

 

  "Come Samantha, we will find the other Tok'ra; perhaps one of them will have a healing device." Well, she wasn't about to argue.

 

  They stumbled along together through the trees, Martouf half-carrying half-dragging Sam along. They ran across a couple of Tok'ra, neither unfortunately had a healing device. One stepped beside Sam, and lifted her other hand across his shoulder, supporting her weight. That made it easier to walk.

 

 Sam felt so light, like she was floating across the woods. Maybe she was dead. She giggled at the thought. Maybe they were all dead. Maybe everyone was dead... like earth, and suddenly she wasn't so light anymore.

 

  "Martouf?" She said softly.

 

  "Yes, Samantha?"

 

  "Where's Atalya?" And then, because it was so easy, because it hurt so much less, she let herself fall into the darkness. She didn't really want to hear his answer anyway.

 

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

Major Castleman slowly paced back and forth in front of the Stargate, ignoring the dark looks shot his way by the gathered men.  For once, he wished they were back at the SGC. Oh, not that he had any desire to spend his life on a dead planet, but because he wished they'd found a way to bring one vital thing from Earth with them…the iris.

 

The Alpha Site was safe…but only as long as its address remained unknown. And too many people were coming and going from this gate for his peace of mind.

 

An authoritative figure strode towards him and he sighed. He didn’t care how great of an ally the man was, or how much he'd helped them…the old warrior still gave him the creeps. "Bra'tac," he acknowledged.

 

"Still no word?" the man asked.

 

"No," Castleman shook his head. "We sent your message to Harlan's planet. I don't know what else we can do."

 

"I had hoped to seek Teal'c's counsel." He sighed. "However, perhaps I must trust my own feelings on the matter."

 

Castleman heard a sound from the gate and turned just as his men noticed the same thing. "Major."

 

"Heads up, people," he ordered, taking shelter himself behind the DHD. Bra'tac joined him and they both watched the chevrons light and the Stargate open with a dramatic whoosh. He heard the men around him raise and arm their weapons, all ready to greet a potentially hostile visitor.

 

Their heightened state of alertness was courtesy of various reports they'd been receiving through a myriad of sources. SG Teams still explored the universe on a limited basis, less worried about pure exploration now than the searching for supplies and potential allies. They were also looking for new worlds, not only for the resources from those worlds, but also as a potential colony.

 

But recently, instead of hope, they'd been bringing back word of new attacks, rumors of massacres and frightened whispers of someone, something, terrorizing the universe at large. A dark, mysterious force that was spreading through the universe like the specter of death, silently killing and leaving few to tell the tale.

 

These rumors were one reason they were now giving emphasis to a plan to move some of the more dependant survivors to a new world and leave the Alpha Site as a more militaristic base. Since they were lacking the safeguards and luxuries of advanced medical facilities, they hoped to find a place where the last few survivors of Earth could live, removed from any potential dangers brought back to the Alpha Site by any exploration teams.

 

Much to his surprise and relief, two familiar figures stepped through the gate, both of them looking around before stepping away from the gate. "O'Neill?" Castleman called out, standing up as Bra'tac did the same. "What brings you here?"

 

O'Neill and Jackson stepped forward as more people exited the gate behind them. "Castleman. We got refugees. We were wondering if you could put them up for a few days?" the man asked.

 

The major paused for a moment, still having a bit of a hard time believing that the man before him wasn't the O'Neill he'd known for years, but a robot duplicate. All of them were duplicates; perfect replicas of people he knew were long since dead. "Where are they from?"

 

"Tollana," Jackson answered.

 

"Tollana?" Castleman asked, not believing that the planet had been attacked. They'd all heard of the place, the new home of the Tollans, but none of them had ever been there. Occasionally, the robots brought them humanitarian aid from the reclusive aliens, but never anything that Castleman would consider important. It had also been a place they'd considered for a fall back site…before being told that the Tollans didn't want them, didn't want the influx of irrational and, in their definition, violent and possessive humans to mess up their little utopia.

 

"We've got about a hundred of them," O'Neill reported.

 

"We were just dropping by for a visit and discovered that the planet had been attacked," Jackson said.

 

"Bra'tac," O'Neill acknowledged, clasping the warrior's hand.  "What brings you here?"

 

"O'Neill. A matter we shall discuss in a moment."

 

"Colonel, we don't have a lot of supplies," Castleman protested as his men stepped forward, their natural instinct to help over riding their caution. He wanted to help too, but he had something far more important to consider, survival. They were still barely hanging on and the last thing they needed to do was to swamp the lifeboat.

 

"Look, I know they haven't exactly been overwhelming with their help but…the planet's gone. It's as bad as Earth," O'Neill said, seriously.

 

"They don't have to stay permanently," Jackson said. "Just long enough to treat the wounded and for us to find them a new home."

 

"Tek mate, Teal'c. Tollana has fallen?" Bra'tac asked as Teal'c walked through the gate and joined them.

 

"Tek mate, Master Bra'tac."

 

"That's the last of them, sir. It was razed from the sky," Carter reported to him, coming to stand beside them, still guiding a shell shocked refugee holding a slightly singed tabby cat in his arms. The man didn't talk, simply stood there as he stroked the cat. "Everything's gone. We brought the survivors we could find. There might be a few more but we were running out of time," she said, referring to their battery packs.

 

Castleman knew that for their limitless strength and endurance, the robot duplicates of SG-1 had one Achilles heel…they could only leave their home planet for a few days at the most before their batteries drained and they died.

 

Castleman looked around him, his eyes flickering over dozens of dirty and frightened refugees. He wanted to say no. It was winter and an already lean time for the refugees. Last year, they'd barely survived although this winter looked to be a bit easier. But he knew all it'd take would be a cold snap that lasted too long or a persistent virus and they'd again be threatened with extinction.

 

These people would be a huge drain on their already meager resources and, if he cared about his own kind, he'd turn them away. It's not like they hadn't asked for it. They had turned the Tau'ri away last year when they asked for help. Kindness begets kindness…or lack thereof.

 

If he was using common sense, he'd turn them away. Fortunately for them, his compassion over rode his common sense. After all, just two years ago, they'd been like this, a few scattered survivors of a once mighty people.

 

"Use the mess hall," he ordered. "Get these people out of the cold. Spread the word that we'll need some blankets and clothing. Tell cook to fire up the ovens and get some soup on."

 

"Thank you," O'Neill said.

 

"Don't thank me yet," Castleman said. "They only stay if the people vote. We're already running low on supplies and spring's not for a couple more months at least."

 

"We'll find ya supplies," O'Neill promised.

 

"I know of someone that may assist you," Bra'tac said.

 

"Who?"

 

"Several months ago, word began to spread among the Jaffa of Kelma."

 

"Kelma?"

 

"Sanctuary," Jackson translated for O'Neill.

 

"It is said that K'Tano, once first prime of Imhotep, has led a great revolt. He has renounced his master and founded a sanctuary upon a planet. I came to make contact with Teal'c and to see if he desired to travel to this place with me and to see if K'Tano would be willing to lend his assistance to the Tau'ri."

 

"An alliance?"

 

"Perhaps," Bra'tac answered O'Neill.

 

"A Jaffa army could help out, sir," Carter said.

 

"We don't have enough resources—"

 

"They could help you find more," she interrupted Castleman. "Most of these Jaffa have been planet hopping for decades. They know what planets are good for foraging. They're also one hell of a defense force."

 

"It's not my planet, but I'm not too fond of handing the keys to the city over to someone on just their word," O'Neill said, his skepticism plain. Castleman didn't blame him. Jaffa weren't exactly known for their flexibility.

 

"Master Bra'tac and I shall go, investigate this K'Tano and see if he is in fact the leader of a rebellion," Teal'c said.

 

"In a bit," O'Neill said.

 

"O'Neill? The sooner we validate his claims, the sooner the Tau'ri can benefit."

 

"We need twelve hours to recharge before anyone's going anywhere," O'Neill said. "Our stuff still here?" he asked, referring to the naquadah powered charging unit the human Samantha Carter had created for situations just like this.

 

"Yeah, right where you left it," Castleman said.

 

"Twelve hours, Bra'tac," O'Neill said. "Then we'll all go, check out this K'Tano guy."

Bra'tac nodded his agreement and the group left the Stargate, returning to the warmth and relative safety of the settlement.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

    Martouf watched the light of the healing device as it hit three different areas on Samantha's skull. While the healing device could be used by anyone with naquadah in their blood, on anyone, it took some skill and training to use it to its full potential like this and not many Tok'ra took the time to learn those skills these days. He was lucky, or rather Samantha was, that one of the Tok'ra that had managed to escape was Aras, a tall wiry man who had been a healer on his home planet and had spent the first twenty years of his joined existence learning, and perfecting, his use of the healing device.

 

  This meant that he used less of his energy to heal, and the patient took less time to recover. Considering their current situation this was ideal. There were only fifteen of them left free, and arguments were already flaring up regarding what course of action to should be taken. Whether they should try and free the other Tok'ra now, or regroup and try later. Martouf was half listening to the arguments when he saw Samantha stir.

 

  He had positioned her on her stomach, arms pillowing her head, so that the healer could work more easily. "Samantha," he called softly, placing his hand on her shoulder. A small groan answered him as she began to try and rise. "Slowly," he instructed helping her up into a sitting position. "You have been injured, and unconscious."

 

  Surprisingly it was the metallic tinged voice of Atalya answered him. "I know," she said placing her hand on her forehead. "Samantha ripped control from me, in all my years none of my hosts had ever managed to do such a thing. There is damage to our connection; I could not heal her as well as I should have."

 

 Martouf starred at Atalya as Lantash took control. "Samantha took control from you? Against your will?" They had heard of this happening before, but only with the goa'uld, and only when the parasite was under extreme duress or was weakened by something. "How is she now?" he asked, this was something that would have to be explored further when the time presented itself.

 

  Atalya paused for a moment, as if searching for something. "She sleeps, but will soon awaken. I shall withdraw then until her wishes are made clear." She turned and looked at him, a look of resignation in her eyes. "Lantash, Samantha wrested control from me because she wants to rescue Jacob. You won't be able to stop her, and she would never forgive you if you tried."

 

  Lantash nodded and turned to his arguing brethren. "We rest a little longer, and then we go rescue the others." His tone made it clear that there would be no further arguments on this matter, so the others began discussing methods of extraction. This too soon turned into an argument; Lantash resisted the urge to roll his eyes and turned his attention back to Atalya. She was resting against a tree, her arms placed across two large roots that stretched at her sides; her eyes were half closed and she regarded the arguing Tok'ra with little interest.

 

  'Samantha was simply desperate,' Martouf said, trying to assuage Lantash's concerns. 'She was not fighting against Atalya as much as she was fighting to help her father. They will be fine. They just need some time.'

 

  Lantash sighed internally and turned his attention back to the argument. 'I hope you're right old friend, I truly do.'

 

<><><><><> 

 

Sam slowly opened her eyes, frowning as she realized that she had no idea where she was. It was dark, the only sound what she presumed to be the normal night music of the planet. Planet? How did she know she was on a planet?

 

"Samantha?" Her heart lurched at the soft voice and she spun, squinting in the dim light to make out the features of Martouf.

 

"Martouf, what?" she whispered, responding to his urgings to stay quiet.

 

"They're going to move the prisoners," he whispered back, moving close so it was more like he was breathing the words into her ear. "Are you up to helping?"

 

Prisoners? What prisoners? Who was a prisoner?

 

_"We don't know what's up there." Jack reminded as they walked into the rings. "So when we get up top, make for the trees."_

 

The guys. The guys had been here. They had to be the prisoners. That meant goa'uld. She couldn't let that happen. They couldn't be prisoners. Teal'c, they'd kill Teal'c, probably make Daniel and Jack into hosts. No, she had to help. "Yes," she said, barely registering the zat Martouf pressed into her hand.

 

"They're going to move them from a holding area to the surface to be ringed up," he whispered. "Our plan is to overpower the Jaffa and get ringed up to the teltac with the prisoners, then take over the cargo ship and flee, preferably before the Jaffa have a chance to know what has happened."

 

Her head pounding, she just nodded still trying to figure out how her friends had been captured, and why she hadn't been with them when it'd happened.

 

Martouf gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder then moved away, coordinating his efforts with the other members of the group. Sam blinked to clear her eyes and frowned as she realized that they were all Tok'ra. Where had the Tok'ra come from?

 

Her questions remained unanswered as they got to their feet, leaving her the choice of following them or staying behind. And since staying behind likely meant being marooned on a planet surrounded by Jaffa, she too gained her feet, moving close to Martouf's side.

 

The rhythmic clump of Jaffa boots grew louder as they spread out, hiding themselves in the trees. Orange flames flickered through the trees, torches carried by the captors. Instinctively, Sam leaned forward only to be pulled back by Martouf's gentle hand on her arm. She looked to him, reading the silent 'not yet' in his eyes.

 

The Jaffa came closer and she frowned, looking for a flash of green among the browns and beiges of the Tok'ra captives. Where were the guys? Shouldn't they be here?

 

She reached for Martouf, only to have her hand grasp air as he moved forward, the rest of the Tok'ra following suit. Within seconds the air was full of brilliant blue flashes punctuated by a couple of staff weapon blasts. Still trying to figure out what was going on, Sam walked from the trees, her zat held at her side.

 

A Jaffa moved in front of her, reaching for his weapon. She stared for a second then raised her zat, killing him quickly. Idly, she watched him fall, his limbs still quivering. "Sam?" An urgent voice pulled her from her stupor and she turned, staring now at the furiously frowning face of her father.

 

"Dad?"

 

"Damn, kid, what are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?" he ranted, pulling her close.

 

"No, I…" She stared at the melee around her, noticing that the short battle was over, more Jaffa than Tok'ra lying on the ground. "Where are they?" she asked slowly, still searching for the green uniforms she knew had to be here.

 

"Where are who?" Jacob asked.

 

"Jack, Daniel, Teal'c…they should be here. Where are they?" she asked, struggling slightly in his arms an odd feeling of desperation startling to settle in.

 

"Sam?"

 

"Dad? Where are they? Martouf said they were here, we can't leave them behind," Sam said, her voice rising enough that Jacob shook her slightly.

 

"Martouf, what the hell's wrong with her?" Jacob demanded as the Tok'ra joined them.

 

"Samantha was injured. She fought Atalya and won," he reported.

 

"What?" Selmac demanded.

 

"She was most determined to rescue you," Lantash said. "Samantha is confused at the moment. It is Martouf's hope that they will be able to mend their differences at a better time than now," he said meaningfully as the Tok'ra finished zatting the Jaffa into oblivion once they removed the men's armor.

 

Selmac nodded as he gave control back to Jacob. "Sam, honey. They're on the ship," he said.

 

"Who's on the ship?" Sam asked, trying to make sense of their conversation. Atalya? Who was this Atalya person and why had they fought.

 

"The rest of SG-1," Jacob said, the patience in his voice contrasting with the urgency with which he grabbed her arm.

 

"Oh," she said. "We need to go get them. They can't stay here, it's not safe."

 

"We shall do that now, Samantha," Martouf said. "Stay close to Jacob," he ordered.

 

"Right," Sam agreed. "I'll stay close to dad."

 

Her words barely out of her mouth, Sam meekly let the two men lead her along with the rest of the newly disguised Tok'ra as they picked up the discarded torches, settling themselves into mimicry of their former procession, hoping that it would be enough to fool the Jaffa manning the teltac.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

Jack stood back in the trees; his fingers drumming on his rifle stock as he listened to the Jaffa warrior speak to the group of warriors gathered in the clearing.

 

"He's got charisma, I'll give him that much," Daniel said.

 

"So did Hitler," Jack shot back.

 

"If these Jaffa are for real, this could be one hell of an advantage," Sam said.

 

"How so?"

 

"Think about it, Daniel. The greatest weakness the refugees have is a lack of numbers. Working together with the Jaffa they could double their numbers and triple their knowledge. A lot of these Jaffa know more planets than we do. And they could also be an incredibly valuable source of intel," she enthused.

 

"They're Jaffa, Carter," Jack said, letting his irritation show with the young captain. She was a very capable officer, and a damned good scientist but there were days when he wished she'd been around the block a couple more times before Harlan had stuck them in the Xerox machine from hell.

 

"So was Teal'c," she shot back, the look on her face making it plain to him that she'd picked up on the source of his irritation and didn’t appreciate it one bit.

 

"Jack, it's possible that the rebel movement is spreading. The Jaffa have been slaves for millennia. I'm surprised it took them this long to rebel."

 

"Rebellion's easier said than done," Sam said. "These people are basically undergoing a mass conversion from their religion. You can't just wake up one morning and decide to throw away a life's teachings."

 

"Which is my problem with this Guano dude," Jack said.

 

"Teal'c and Bra'tac seem impressed with him," Sam said.

 

"A little too impressed."

 

"Jack, you think they're falling for it?"

 

"I don't know, Daniel. Maybe this guy's for real." Jack shrugged. "Let's hang around for a bit. Let Teal'c and Bra'tac finish checking things out. Then we'll go talk to the man. Maybe we'll hit it lucky and he'll have something we need.

 

<><><><><> 

 

Jacob slowly drew the coverlet over Sam, sighing as he cradled his head in his hand. All things considered, their trip to the teltac and subsequent flight to where they'd hidden their hatak had been uneventful.

 

Fortunately, there's just been a couple dozen or so of them, rescuers and rescues, so while the teltac was crowded, it wasn't overwhelmed and had been able to quickly catch up with their hatak ship which had fled soon after the attack had begun, the decision being to risk sacrificing the people on the surface than to lose their one and only advantage, Cronos' hatak ship captured on Juna.

 

Sam had been quiet during most of the trip, only talking once to question why the rest of SG-1 wasn't on the teltac like she'd been promised.  The fact that she'd been quickly placated by being told that they were now on the hatak only increased Jacob's worry.

 

She'd obviously sustained some sort of head injury, something attested to not only by Martouf's recounting of events, but by the bruises barely hidden by her blood matted hair. Once they'd made their way to the hatak and attained the relative safety of hyperspace, Jacob led Sam to one of the private chambers, urging her to lie down and rest. He hoped that this would give Atalya time to repair the damage and hopefully restore Sam's memory as well.

 

'I hope it is that simple,' Selmac said.

 

'What do you mean?' Jacob asked her.

 

'In all my years, I have only heard of a few times that a host has influenced a symbiote, much less totally subverting it. Even then usually it is the result of an injury or old age.'

 

'So you're saying Talya might be hurt?'

 

'I am saying that Samantha…' The ancient creature paused, as if searching for an appropriate metaphor to use. 'Samantha basically severed part of her body. She broke the physical link between her and Atalya. This no doubt caused damage to both of them.'

 

'Martouf said Atalya was talking,' Jacob reminded.

 

'Yes, and that bodes well. However I fear the emotional damage will be much greater. Jacob, you were married.'

 

'Right, you know that.'

 

'Imagine how difficult it would have been for your marriage to survive had you raped your wife.'

 

'Sel!' he protested, disgusted at her suggestion.

 

'I apologize for treading upon your cultural taboo, however the analogy is a valid one. A blending is an example of total trust. You trust me to allow you control over your body, I trust you simply by joining. I am vulnerable within your body and should you desire to, I could be easily killed. We have blended and meshed totally and there is an implicit trust.'

 

'You're saying Sam broke that trust,' he said.

 

'Yes. Atalya feels very strongly about this, always has.'

 

 Jacob leaned back with a groan. 'Martouf said it was because of me, that Sam wanted to rescue me and Atalya wanted her to wait.'

 

'That is possible. And it is possible that they can reach an agreement and maintain their blending. If Samantha has truly rejected her, Atalya will leave her even if it means her death.'

 

'Let's just hope it doesn't come to that,' Jacob said, not giving voice, even internally to his greatest fear, that this would cost Sam not only her sanity, but possibly her life.

 

<><><><><> 

 

 She wasn't anywhere and then she was everywhere, the scenery kept changing, woods, deserts, jungles, beaches, trees, trees and more trees, and the whole time the feeling, the knowledge, that she was getting closer and closer to the edge, the precipice, the end.

  When it stopped, when everything stopped, she was in the gate room, the event horizon reflecting off the walls, the floors, the woman standing before her. She was a stranger, this woman, but somehow Sam knew her.

 

 "Where are we?" Sam asked softly, afraid to raise her voice in the peaceful setting.

 

 "At the crossroads between your mind and mine," the woman said. She was dressed in a long white gown that clung to her body in just the right places. She had long auburn hair that hung free, floating gently in the breeze that seemed to come from everywhere.

 

  Sam shook her head, amazed. "It's more than that isn't it?" Talya nodded. "They're dead aren't they?" she whispered, Talya made as if to go to her, but stopped herself, unsure of her welcome.

 

  "Yes," she said softly. It would never not hurt, she knew, and she wondered once again if it was worth it.

 

"Talya," Sam whispered and stared at her, trying to reconcile the face before her with what she knew Atalya to be, a six inch long reptilian creature residing along her spine and tapped into her brain. "Why?"

 

"This is how you wish to see me," Talya said, stepping back and spinning. "It is quite normal for a host to envision their symbiote as being of the same race as themselves. I can change if you wish," she offered. "Brunette, blond, man, woman. I could even take the appearance of one of your friends, although I feel that would merely confuse matters more."

 

"No," Sam whispered, stepping forward and raising her hand. She touched Atalya's face, tracing her features, looking deep into the woman's green eyes. "No."

 

"We need to speak," Talya said seriously, stepping back.

 

"Talya, I…"

 

"You rejected me," she interrupted.

 

"It was my father."

 

"I know. And I know how you feel, probably better than you do. But I also know that by wresting control from me, you nearly got both of us killed, not to mention the prisoners," she said, her rebuke plain in her voice.

 

"Talya…"

 

"I'm not like her."

 

"Like who?" Sam asked, confused.

 

"What Jolinar did was wrong and you are right to still harbor hate for her but—"

 

"I don't hate her," Sam protested.

 

"Do you not?" Talya said, looking Sam in the eyes. "You forget that I know you, I know your thoughts, your dreams…your fears. You hate her, hate what she did to you, hate how she used you."

 

"No."

 

"Do not lie! You cannot lie to me," she said loudly, reaching out to give Sam a shake. "You hate her. You were glad when she died, you wished for, prayed to your god for her death. Even while the Ashrak was killing her and she gave her life to save you, you wished for her death. You reveled in the prospect of freedom and did not care that a sentient life form was dying for you." Sam shook her head. "You did not even try to fight the Ashrak; you did not even try to help her. You let her die."

 

"NO!"

 

"YES!"

 

"Don’t blame me for this!" Sam yelled, pulling free. "Don't make her the all important, self-sacrificing martyr. She wasn't. She was a coward, a frightened little creature that tossed all her morals and high ideals out the window the second the going got tough. She preached co-existence and respect even while she took over my body, totally ignoring me. She was no better than a fucking goa'uld. Yes, I hate her! I hate what she did to me. I hate how she changed me. I hate the nightmares I have that aren't even mine. I hate the looks from people when they know that I'm different, how they treat me like some side-show freak."

 

"How many times did her changes save your friends?" Atalya shot back. "How many times did her knowledge save your planet?"

 

"Not enough!" Sam yelled, her chest heaving. She pulled free, sinking down to sit on the edge of the ramp, not even feeling the harsh metal as it pressed painfully into her skin. "Not enough," she said softly, wrapping her arms around her legs. She barely noticed Atalya sitting beside her. "I watched them die, one by one, I watched them, felt them die. I should have died too. I wanted to die."

 

"But because of Jolinar, you couldn't," Talya said.

 

"Her last bit of revenge. Even from her grave she controls my life."

 

"You control your life."

 

Sam slowly shook her head. "Ever since I can remember, all I've ever done has been what someone else wanted me to do.  That's what you do in the Air Force, you follow orders."

 

"What do you want?"

 

"What?" Sam turned to look at her.

 

"What do you want?" Talya asked again. "I can leave. I can stay." She reached out and laid her hand on Sam's chest. "I can end it."

 

Sam shook her head. "End it?"

 

Talya traced her fingers from Sam's chest, up her neck to caress her cheek before gently tucking a wayward strand of hair behind Sam's ear. "It is incredibly easy to stop the human heart. I can constrict the arteries in your neck and put you to sleep and it'll be over. You can die and finally find out if there is an afterlife. Maybe you'll see your friends again and finally find happiness. There'll be no more pain, no more memories." She pulled her hand away and got to her feet. "Or I can leave," she said, stepping up the ramp.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"I would think it is obvious. I can leave you. End the blending, right here, right now." She stepped further up the ramp. "In a way, it might be for the best. I have lived for a long time and have found that survival no longer has the appeal it once had. The Tok'ra are dying. With no queen and no young we shall soon become extinct. I had thought that I wanted to fight, to struggle to survive, but I do not think so anymore. Through you, I know the pain of being a survivor, of burying not just one friend, but all of my friends. I cannot do that, and I cannot do that to you. I cannot burden you with once again being the last survivor of Armageddon." She spun slowly, studying the room. "I think that is what I shall do." She looked Sam in the eyes. "Do you wish to join me, or would you like to continue your journey on your own?"

 

Sam stared, trying to process what she'd just heard. Leave? Talya would leave her? She'd be alone again. But didn't she want that? Didn't she, at times, crave privacy? Crave normalcy? How many nights had she laid there and wished that she could go back and change things? She still remembered the letter she'd written herself in 1969, telling herself not to go to Nasyia, not to help the man, not to make that fatal decision that had so changed her life.

 

She remembered standing by the big blue steel box, her fingers wrapped around the handle, the plain white envelope in her hand. She remembered the slick feel of the paper under her fingers, contrasting with the roughness of the steel of the mailbox.

 

She'd almost mailed it. Almost dropped that slip of paper into the dark maw of the metal box. She remembered the disgust she'd felt when she realized that by choosing to save herself, she'd again condemned her mother to a horrible, painful death. She'd again doomed her father to a life of grief and loneliness, doomed her family to years of strife and hardship.

 

Blinded by her own selfishness she hadn't even noticed Teal'c standing at her side until his dark hand closed over her own, gently crushing the envelope in his strong fingers. She hadn't protested when he'd pulled the envelope from her hand, decidedly ripping it in two and throwing it away, its contents known only to her.

 

She remained silent as he pulled her behind him, leading her back to the waiting bus and its passengers. They'd never spoken of that moment. He never asked who she was warning and why and she'd never told anyone, never wanted to admit her weakness.

 

"It was an honor to know you," Talya said, breaking into Sam's memories. "I hope that you find happiness, for I can think of no one more deserving."

 

She turned, starting to walk up the ramp and towards the shimmering event horizon. Sam watched her go, felt the vibrations of her footsteps through the grates upon which she sat. She would die, she knew that. Even if they had another host, Talya would never take them. She was going to be gone forever, nothing more than a memory, a name to be recorded in the history books, if the Tok'ra had such a thing.

 

"No," Sam whispered. Talya kept walking. "No!" she said louder. The Tok'ra ignored her, maintaining her slow walk to death. Sam struggled to her feet, cursing as she tripped over the long skirt. She dashed awkwardly up the ramp and lunged for Talya's arm, grabbing her harshly. "NO!"

 

The woman smiled sadly and gently pulled Sam's hand off her arm. She took another step, now just feet from the gate. "You will be all right," she promised. "This is for the best."

 

Sam lunged for her again, wrapping both arms around her and pulled her to her tight. She could feel Talya struggle, trying to pull free. Sam merely tightened her grip, not caring when she knew that she had to be bruising Talya horribly. "You're not leaving me," she said, hugging her tighter and tighter until she couldn't distinguish where one body ended and one began. She closed her arms tighter and tighter, gasping as she began to feel as if she was pulling Atalya into her body.  She felt the Tok'ra struggle one last time, then surrender, going limp as Sam's arms crossed themselves and she awoke, opening her eyes to see the darkly garish decorations of a goa'uld hatak ship.

 

Despite being exhausted, she sat up, her eyes settling on the figure slumbering in a chair beside the bed. 'Talya?' she asked hesitantly, praying for an answer but afraid of what it would be. 'I’m sorry.'

 

'I know,' her friend whispered.

 

'I want to spend the rest of my days with you.'

 

'And I with you.'

 

'I…I love you.'

 

A warm feeling swept over her. 'I have always loved you,' Talya said. 'Now sleep. If we are to avenge the murderer of Earth, we shall need our rest.'

 

Sam slowly lay back down, sighing as she pulled the covers up. They would sleep and heal…and then they would make him pay.

 

<><><><><> 

 

Teal'c leaned back on the cushions, sighing contentedly as he reached for the goblet of wine. It had been so long, too long since he'd spent time with his fellow Jaffa. He liked his friends, he really did. His relationships with the other members of SG-1 were some of the best friendships he had ever had. But they were human…or representations of human. They were not like him. They were not Jaffa.

 

They did not understand him or his ways. They respected him, but did not fully comprehend him. He was Jaffa, yes, but he was also just a representation of a Jaffa. He carried no symbiote. He had no need to kel-no-reem or to meditate. He had no need to sleep. He merely gained access to the charging unit and rejuvenated his batteries.

 

He was stronger than a human, stronger than a Jaffa, possibly stronger than a goa'uld. Captain Carter said he was better, however Captain Carter was also the most accepting of their new states. He knew that she found the prospect of eternal youth, beauty and boundless strength most appealing. He did not, and he knew that O'Neill shared his feelings. He was  no longer the Jaffa he once was and even after five years, he still did not know if the difference was a good thing or a bad thing.

 

"Teal'c." He looked up to see K'Tano walking into the tent. He moved to stand up, then remained reclined as the leader motioned for him to remain so and joined him. "So, you are the warrior that defied Apophis and rebelled," he said, pouring himself a goblet of wine.

 

Teal'c studied the man, searching his welcome face for some sign of his true motives. He found it most amazing that, not only had K'Tano led a rebellion, but that Teal'c had been able to find them and make contact with them. This was like a dream come true and, for the first time in years, he felt that he may yet attain freedom for the rest of the Jaffa.

 

He dreamed of the day that they would live free, that they would not murder and be murdered in the names of false gods, and K'Tano looked to be one to deliver that emancipation to his people.

 

"And you are the Jaffa that rebelled against Imhotep," Teal'c said, keeping his voice calm. Something, there was something about this man. Something different. He did not know if it was the man's natural charisma or something else, but K'Tano stirred something within him, had stirred it since the first moment Teal'c and Bra'tac had walked into the camp. Deep down, Teal'c had expected to be shunned and eyes with suspicion, instead, he found himself welcomed and waited upon as if he were an old ally and even older friend.

 

K'Tano shrugged. "I was merely walking in your footsteps, brother."

 

Teal'c accepted the compliment. "Master Bra'tac?"

 

"He is meeting with the men. Why are you here?" K'Tano asked, changing the subject with economical precision.

 

"We heard about your rebellion and were interested," he said, not yet willing to reveal his plans.

 

"Then that is something else we share…an interest in each other."

 

"Really?"  
  


"Yes, such as…what are you?"  Teal'c looked to him. "I sense no larva within you. I do not even sense that you live."

 

"Yet I am before you," Teal'c said, spreading his hands.

 

"Yes, you are. Which I find even more interesting since the last I heard, the planet of the Tau'ri was telak…a mass grave full of rotting corpses and the unmourned dead. I am interested in how a corpse has come to be before me," he said, finishing his speech by drawing a knife from a sheath at his waist.

 

Teal'c sighed quietly, sitting up and setting down his wine. "I am not a corpse," he said needlessly.

 

"This I know," K'Tano said as there was a commotion at the entrance to the tent. The flap flew open and a figure fell in, falling to his knees as he was pushed. Seeing that it was Bra'tac, Teal'c shot to his feet, his hands flying to his waist and the weapons he did not have. "What is the meaning of this?"

 

K'Tano smiled, motioning for a young warrior to join him. "Our lord will be most interested in gaining custody of you," K'Tano said, his eyes glowing dramatically.

 

"Hataka!" Bra'tac cursed.

 

"Imhotep," Teal'c said flatly.

 

"Very good, Teal'c. I see that whatever you are, your intelligence has not dimmed," the goa'uld gloated.

 

"You are lying to these people," Bra'tac said. "Betraying them."

 

"We are not betraying them, we are saving them," the man gloated.

 

"Raknor is correct," K'Tano said. "If these Jaffa had maintained their disloyal ways, I would have had to kill them. Now, now they're even more loyal to me than they were to their lord."

 

"They will discover the truth," Teal'c said.

 

"Perhaps," K'Tano agreed. "But by then, it will be too late.   For them and for you."




 

"Of what do you speak?" Bra'tac asked.

 

"I speak of the great reward my lord shall give me when I deliver to him the rebel leader, Bra'tac, and whatever you are, Teal'c."

 

"I don't think so." A sardonic voice cut through the tension as the tent flaps were pulled back. O'Neill and Captain Carter stepped inside the tent, Daniel Jackson at their heels, their weapons armed and ready and at that moment Teal'c reveled in his differences, the small internal radio that all of them possessed enabling the rest of his team to listen in on the conversation, and make an appearance at the most opportune times. "Put them down, now," O'Neill ordered. Teal'c and Bra'tac stepped forward, quickly disarming K'Tano and Raknor.

 

"Whom do you serve?" Bra'tac asked.

 

K'Tano smiled smugly. "You are not worthy to know my lord's name."

 

"And you are not worthy to live," Teal'c said, pulling his knife and plunging it in K'Tano's chest in one swift movement. The goa'uld struggled and Teal'c easily restrained him, calling upon his superior strength.

 

In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Bra'tac restraining Raknor, aided by O'Neill stepping forward, his weapon prominently displayed.

 

K'Tano fell to the ground, his body twitching slightly.  Teal'c stepped over him, moving to stand in front of Raknor. "Who is your lord?" Teal'c demanded. Raknor simply stood there silently. Teal'c grabbed the man's collar and laid his knife against the man's throat. "WHO?"

 

"You shall know soon enough," he gloated.

 

"Colonel?" Teal'c glanced at his teammate. Once K'Tano had been killed and Raknor subdued, Captain Carter had started a cursory search of the tent. She had a leather bag in her hand and was holding up a small communications device. "Does this symbol look familiar to you?" she asked as she stepped close. She held it up and Teal'c studied it, frowning as he nodded towards Bra'tac.

 

Captain Carter handed the device to him and the aged warrior held it up to the light. "It cannot be," he said softly.

 

"Bra'tac?"

 

The older warrior looked up. "This marking has not been seen for millennia. His existence is often a tale used to frighten young children."

 

"Who?" O'Neill demanded.

 

"Anubis," the old man pronounced seriously.

 

<><><><><> 

 

'I think you have actually shocked them,' Talya said, her voice full of wry amusement. If the situation wasn't so desperate, she'd actually be enjoying this far more than she already was. They and the rest of the survivors were gathered in a large room on their hatak ship, discussing not only their immediate future, namely where to place their next base, but also whether or not to have a base or to use the hatak as a mobile command post.

 

At least, that's what the meeting was supposed to be about. Now it was quickly descending into an all out argument over whether or not to listen to Samantha's proposal.

 

Well, if she was honest, it was more the Tok'ra wracking their collective brains to come up with a viable excuse for doing nothing at all and whether or not Samantha should be confined to protect herself from her apparent insanity.

 

'They need to be shocked,' Sam said bitterly, her disgust with the Tok'ra growing by the moment. They didn't want to fight. None of them wanted to fight. They just wanted to keep running and cowering like frightened little children. This attitude was why, after two thousand years, they were still a minority, still hunted like animals, still doomed to failure.

 

No wonder the goa'uld laughed at the Tok'ra. All the system lords needed to do was keep harassing them, keep them off balance and they would never be anything more than a nuisance to them. And time was running out, even Talya couldn't keep that fact from Sam. Zero or negative population growth coupled with the lack of a queen meant that the Tok'ra had a century or so of life left to them. The goa'uld didn't have to kill them; they were going to kill themselves with their own inaction.

 

'You've given them a lot to take in,' Talya said. 'Imagine how you would feel if we went to Earth and tried to convince everyone that Jesus Christ or Allah was again among them.'

 

'We're not talking deities here, we're talking a murdering, sadistic bastard who was so horrible his own kind banished him,' Sam shot back, retreading a familiar argument. She wasn't stupid; she hadn't missed the plain skeptical looks on the faces of her fellow Tok'ra when she told them who the attacker was, who was, once again, among them.

 

'The Devil then. They'll never believe you.'

 

'They don't want to believe me. Maybe we should turn the hatak around and go find them the corpse of that Jaffa I tripped over. Maybe if they see the tattoo themselves…'

 

'They still won't believe you,' Talya said.

 

"Samantha, what you suggest isn't possible," Garshaw said. "Anubis was killed long before any of us were born."

 

"Long before anyone was born," Aldwin said.

 

"No, there's a few," Selmac corrected. "Yu is one of them, maybe a couple more. Most of the ancient ones have either died or just gone."

 

"Gone?" Martouf asked.

 

"They leave," Garshaw said. "No one knows for sure where they go, they just…leave."

 

"If they just 'leave', doesn't it stand to reason that they can come back?" Sam said.

 

"Anubis was different," Selmac said. "He did not leave; he was banished, cast out."

 

"I know what I saw," Sam insisted. "He's back." She reached into the neck of her tunic and pulled out the crystal. "This proves that he set the trap that destroyed Earth."

 

"Samantha, we sympathize but, Earth is dead. Avenging it will not bring your people back to life," Garshaw said.

 

"Do you really think he only set ONE trap like this?" Sam asked. "Chances are this is one of thousands, maybe millions."

 

"That makes no sense," Martouf said. "Earth was hardly a threat ten thousand years ago. There would be no reason to annihilate it."

 

"Unless, of course, this is a trap that was planted a few years ago," she fired back. "What if that's his plan, to kill everyone…and I mean EVERYONE."

 

"That's impossible," Aldwin dismissed.

 

"And I'm willing to bet you all thought the return of Anubis was impossible too." A silence fell over the room as they looked at each other.  Sam knew that she'd finally gotten their attention, but now what were they going to do about it? "Y'all discuss it amongst yourselves," she said, turning dramatically on her heel and leaving the room with a flourish. "Let me know if you decide anything," she tossed over her shoulder.

 

She made her way out into the corridor and stalked down the long hall, ignoring the various other Tok'ra she passed. She had known the Tok'ra couldn't help her, but she owed them one final chance. 'You're going through with it, aren't you?' Talya asked.

 

'Tal, I'm…'

 

'I know,' the symbiote responded. 'I don't like it, but I know.'

 

'He HAS to be stopped or he'll just do it again.'

 

'I know, I just wish there was another way.'

 

'For all we know, he may have already killed another planet. No one's heard from the Asgard in a while and the Furlings have been AWOL for centuries…'

 

'Are you trying to convince me or you?' Talya asked, her words making Sam stop dead in her tracks.

 

'Talya—'

 

'It won't take Jacob long to figure out what you have planned. Unless you want to include him in your little death wish, we should leave the hatak soon. I believe O'Neill was fond of saying 'they can't stop us if they can't find us'.'

 

Sobered, Sam silently agreed, continuing on her way towards her quarters. She'd gather a few things they'd need then she'd leave, and she knew that one way or another, she'd never be back.

 

<><><><><> 

 

The halls were empty but the constant buzz of other symbiotes in her blood, and the occasional noises from the machinery behind the walls prevented it from being eerie. This was good. It made it that much more comfortable for her to sneak around.

 

'Sneak out you mean.' Sam smiled at the voice in her mind.

 

'Sneak out,' she acknowledged. 'I feel like a teenager again. Any moment my dad's going to catch me and ground me for a month. Or worse, take away my TV privileges.'

 

'Incoming.' A couple passed her, radiating that 'just had sex against the bulkhead' glow. Sam couldn't suppress her smile. There were certain things even the end of the universe couldn't stop.

 

The docking bay was empty as well, any cargo that had been worthwhile had been unloaded within hours of their arrival, and any repairs would have to wait until the Tok'ra figured out what they were going to do.

 

'Sneaking out and stealing the car,' Talya said sending amused feelings through their minds. 'You're a regular juvenile delinquent.'

 

'I just hope it gets us there intact.'

 

'Any reason it shouldn't?'

 

Sam shrugged mentally. 'No. It's just...' A burst of mirth from Atalya and Sam knew she was busted.

 

'You've done this before!' Years ago, Sam would have blushed if someone had found out about the time she had taken her father's car to meet a boy four years her senior. She hadn't even had a learner's permit at the time. Now, however, with Atalya, she just smiled ironically.

 

'Not really. The car died halfway down the street and I spent the rest of the night under it trying to figure out why.'

 

'And Jacob never knew?' Atalya cherished this rare glimpse of Samantha as a youth, before they met, before all the pain.

 

'I think he was away at the time. I doubt I would have dared otherwise.' Sam left out the part that Mark had taken the car out regularly when Jacob was away. She also left out that Jacob had known and had even taken out extra insurance. She only knew because she had heard him make the call.

 

"Sam, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Sam winced as Jacob's voice came over the comm.

 

'He sounds angry,' she thought to her symbiote.

 

'He sounds furious,' Talya corrected and Sam had to agree. 'Do you blame him?'

 

Sam almost laughed out loud; instead she flashed a quick sardonic grin that no one saw. 'Do I blame him? No I don't blame him, I even understand him. As a matter of fact I would probably be doing the exact same thing in his shoes.'

 

'Samantha,' the symbiote said softly. 'You don't have to do this. Garshaw is right, your father is right, and I know you're thinking the same thing. No matter what you've convinced yourself, you know you're killing Anubis out of revenge. As much as I sympathize, as much as I think he deserves to die, it will not bring back your people, your friends. You are doing this for yourself and you do not have to.'

 

"Sam? Sam, answer me! Turn that ship around right now!" Sam winced at the anger in her father's voice, clenching her fists to stop herself from doing as he ordered.

 

'Maybe,' she thought to Talya. 'Maybe I am doing this for myself first and the galaxy last. Maybe I don't have to. Maybe.' One hand hovered over the Comm. controls and the other over navigation. "But what will become of me if I don't?" she said out loud and lowered her hand, silencing her father's worried, desperate, accusing voice. Hating the fact that these were probably the last words she would hear him say.

 

<><><><><> 

 

'Are you sure about this?' Sam gulped internally as her little Teltac was literally swallowed by the huge mother ship, mere hours after her flight from the Tok'ra.

 

'A little late to turn back now I'd say.' She had gone back to Revanna hoping to pick up a trail from the other teltacs that had been in the area. It hadn't been too hard to find Anubis' fleet from there. She had sent the interstellar Goa'uld version of a white flag and had, after several hours, been allowed through the shielding.

 

'Would you if it wasn't?' her symbiote whispered in her ear.

 

'No.' She hadn't been this sure of anything in so long, not since she had put a pistol to her head and had known that it was the only thing left to do.

 

A sharp jarring motion signaled that docking had been successful. She opened the doors to her teltac and turned around, ready to surrender to the squadron of Jaffa she knew were about to enter.

 

"Aray Kree!" The Jaffa aiming a staff weapon at her yelled.

 

Sam raised her hands palm facing the Jaffa and lowered her head in surrender. Another Jaffa quickly pulled her hands down and behind her back while another one patted her down for weapons. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod to the leader that she was clean.

 

Sam was led down several corridors and take up several decks. She kept getting the feeling that she was being walked around in circles.

 

'They're trying to intimidate you, or disorient you,' Talya whispered in her mind. 'It's an old, very old, Goa'uld custom. Archaic almost. It goes back to the days when-'

 

'No history lessons, please Talya.' Sam could feel Talya's anxiety. She almost felt it as a vibration at the base of her brain.

 

'Sorry,' Talya mumbled making Sam feel guilty.

 

'I guess being away for ten thousand years puts you a bit behind on current etiquette,' she said trying to alleviate the tension, Talya felt her intentions and sent a wave of warm feelings her way, but kept silent the rest of the way.

 

 Eventually they arrived at the brig; Sam was placed in an empty cell next to a fairly beat up Jaffa who cringed as the Jaffa accompanying Sam walked past. The Jaffa pushed her in with a little too much force, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. "Master Herak will be with you soon." The leader said, then turned on his heel and left, leaving two of his Jaffa to guard her.

 

'Do you think they know who we are?' Sam asked Talya.

 

'Why?'

 

'Because they haven't questioned us at all. We wave a white flag and they take us in, no questions asked. They're even sending in the First Prime before we had a chance to ask. Do you think that's what caused the delay?'

 

'I don't know. How would they know? How would they find out?'

 

'I don't know either.'

 

'I suppose we shall find out soon enough.'

 

'Yes, I suppose we shall.'

 

<><><><><> 

 

 Soon turned out to be a relative term. Hours passed without anything happening. The Jaffa guarding her door didn't move, didn't cough, didn't even seem to breathe or blink. Sam passed the time by pacing, or sitting, or playing word games with Atalya. She wished she had a watch, a working one anyway. The watch she had brought with her from Earth had died of semi-natural causes a few months later and she hadn't felt any need to replace it, until now.

 

'They are doing this on purpose, to unnerve you. Relax, or allow me to relax you. This restlessness is of no use to anyone.' Sam agreed and consciously relaxed her shoulder muscles. 'Do you think this plan of yours will work Samantha?'

 

Sam was silent for a very long time.

 

<><><><><> 

 

"I am Master Herak." The man in front of her was everything Sam had come to expect from a First Prime. The arrogance simply oozed off him in waves, there was intelligence behind his eyes and he looked at her as though she was the very least of his concerns. He was attractive in a way that almost repulsed Sam. Sam allowed Atalya to discreetly take control, no need for them to know the host was still very much aware.

 

"I am Atalya, formally of the Tok'ra. I wish to pledge my allegiance to Lord Anubis." The First Prime didn't look surprised at all.

 

'So they did know who we were. How?' Sam wondered.

 

'I do not know, but we must tread carefully.'

 

'So what else is new?'

 

"Why would a Tok'ra wish to pledge allegiance to a Goa'uld?" Herak asked with feigned innocence.

 

Atalya sneered disgustedly; it was not at all difficult. "I have seen the error of my ways. The Tok'ra are weak and stupid. Their numbers diminish and yet they still refuse to take hosts against their will. I do not wish to die simply because some insignificant creature does not wish for me to share its body." The man nodded, as though she was simply confirming what he already knew, or as though it was what he expected her to say.

 

"And your current host?"

 

Atalya was still sneering but now she gave a little bark of laughter. "What about it?"

 

That answer seemed to satisfy Herak, or else this show had played out to its predicted conclusion and it was time to move to the next stage. "I will pass on your message to my lord."

 

Atalya nodded, and Herak left.

 

'Atalya?'

 

'Yes, Samantha.'

 

'What the hell is going on here?'

 

'Nothing good.'

 

<><><><><> 

 

Again, she was kept waiting for hours, eventually surrendering to her body's need for rest, she sat in a corner of the cell, her eyes closed. She trusted Talya to keep watch while Sam let her own brain rest.

 

As the colonel would say, something very hinky was going on. Tok'ra didn't defect. In all Atalya's memory, the only Tok'ra that had betrayed them had been individuals that had joined TO betray them to the goa'uld.

 

Sam knew this would be the biggest stumbling block for them. Not getting to Anubis alive, convincing him that he needed to keep them alive.

 

She's expected to have to do some very fast talking to keep him from killing her…instead they'd been, if not welcomed, certainly not threatened. None of this made any sense.

 

'Maybe we will get some answers,' Talya said, pulling Sam from her contemplations. She brought her consciousness forward, allowing herself to watch as Talya manipulated her body, standing up to face Herak as he entered her cell. "Come," he said brusquely.

 

"I tire of these games," Talya said in Sam's haughtiest voice. "If Anubis is not interested in what I have to offer, I am sure there are other goa'uld that are."

 

"Quite the contrary," Herak said. "Anubis is most interested. He waits to speak to you."

 

"It is about time," Talya said, sighing dramatically as she strode past Herak, leading the way down the hall, oozing confidence that was pure show. In reality, Talya's control was the only thing keeping Sam's heart from pounding so hard she was sure it was visible through her clothing.

 

Something was wrong. He was too confident, even for a first prime. He knew something. And she had a funny idea she wasn't going to like it when she found out what it was.

 

It took them only minutes to reach the peltac, Herak taking his place, standing at attention just inside the door as Sam walked in. Anubis sat on his throne, shrouded in a glittering black cloak. 'Why won't he let us see his face?' she asked Talya.

 

'I don't know. Goa'uld are usually most proud of their hosts.'

 

'Maybe he was injured or something?'

 

'Then why not take a new host?'

 

Having no answer, Sam fell silent. "My lord Anubis," Talya said, bowing Sam's head slightly. "I am honored to meet you."

 

"Herak tells me you have information for me," he said, ignoring her greeting.

 

"Perhaps," Talya said, fighting to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine.

 

"Do not play games with me, Tok'ra."

 

"Exactly," she said confidently. "Tok'ra. A trusted member of the Tok'ra. Confidant of the council." She strolled around the room, studying it appraisingly as she spoke. She ran her fingers over the control panel, then turned. "I know where they are. I know where they'll go. I know where they've been. I can hand them to you and they can be yours to destroy within a week…if this ship is fast enough."

 

"And why do you think the Tok'ra are important to me? They are like flies on a corpse, moderately annoying, but easily ignored."

 

"The Tok'ra are more powerful than you think. Just because we do not take credit for our victories does not mean that they are not our victories." She stepped forward, motioning dramatically. "Why do you think you were able to waltz in and sweep across the galaxy?"

 

"I am Anubis."

 

"You are the benefactor of millennia of Tok'ra work," she shot back. "You succeeded because we have spent a hundred lifetimes undermining the very infrastructure of the goa'uld."

 

He stood up and Talya reflexively took a step back before steeling herself and standing her ground. "I succeeded because I am Anubis. I am the most powerful goa'uld in the universe."

 

"With the other goa'uld gone, they'll come for you next," she said. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but they'll come." She took a step forward. "They will worm their way in, manipulate and maneuver. They will play you like they've played every other goa'uld since Egeria gave us birth."

 

He sat back down, wrapping his glove covered hands around the arms of the throne. "And that is what you offer—protection from your fellow Tok'ra."

 

"Protection from THE Tok'ra," she corrected.  "There's nothing 'fellow' between us."

 

"And that is all you have to offer?"

 

"Isn't that enough?"

 

"No," he said coldly. "You see…I already have the Tok'ra. They've been under my direct control since my emergence and doing my bidding for centuries before," he said. "In fact, you could say that…the Tok'ra are the original disciples of Anubis."

 

'What?' Sam asked, alarmed. 'What the hell is he talking about.'

 

'I don't…I don't know…I…' she stuttered, her confusion plain in her voice. Talya was startled, almost scared at the prospect of Anubis' words being true.

 

"Perhaps, you would like to meet my loyal subject," Anubis said. "I understand that you are actually well acquainted."

 

He waved his hand and a figure slipped out from behind a large curtain. "Talya," Sam begged. "Please…please tell me it's…Tal?"

 

Her symbiote was quiet, shocked into silence at the sight of a familiar face…the last face she ever thought she'd see on a goa'uld ship.

 

<><><><><> 

 

Narim slowly walked through the clearing. He could feel the tension ebbing for the first time in days. They were safe here. They were actually safe.

 

The Tau'ri had been most welcoming to him and the rest of the survivors. They had given them food and clothing, treated their wounds and welcomed them into their homes.

 

He still did not know if they would allow them to remain. The Tau'ri council had yet to vote on it, but he did know that they had been most accommodating. More accommodating than his people had been.

 

He was ashamed of how his people had acted. They had turned their backs on the Tau'ri. Not totally, but they had refused all but the most basic of humanitarian aid. They refused to open their homes to the Tau'ri. Yet, the Tau'ri had done all that and more. Their living conditions here were primitive at best, and their supplies were exceedingly limited, yet they allowed him and the rest of his people to remain here.

 

He walked by a large deciduous plant and paused, taking a moment to study the odd metal shapes hanging from the bare branches. This was a strange custom. He took one of the tags in his hand, running his fingers across its shiny surface. There were letters engraved on it, in what he believed was the Tau'ri language. Perhaps it was some sort of prayer, he thought, his musings interrupted by the sound of the Stargate activating.

 

Warriors ran from the dwellings, all carrying their weapons. They took positions by the Stargate just as it opened and raised their weapons. Instinctively, Narim moved closer to the tree and watched. He shared their relief as familiar figures emerged from the event horizon. "We got refugees," O'Neill called out, stepping aside as more people came to the planet. No, not people, Jaffa. Why were they bringing Jaffa to this planet?

 

"With all due respect, sir, what the hell's going on?" one of the Tau'ri demanded.

 

"Like I said, Captain, refugees," O'Neill said, shooting the man a look.

 

"Their goa'uld is dead, they want to be free," Jackson said.

 

"Colonel, sir, I can't just…" he protested helplessly and more and more Jaffa came through the gate.

 

"We got women and children here," O'Neill said as the leader, one Narim remembered being called Castleman, ran towards the Stargate.

 

"O'Neill," he shouted. "This is becoming a habit."

 

"Before you start, they're bringing their own supplies and it's only temporary."

 

"These are Jaffa—"

 

"Yeah, so's he," O'Neill shot back, gesturing at Teal'c.

 

"Colonel—"

 

"Look, I know, we didn't have anywhere else to go. Safe planets are getting to be few and far between now days," he said.

 

Castleman stared at him for a few moments, then Narim saw his shoulders slump. "It's not my decision, Colonel. Just like the Tollan, they only stay if the majority rules."

 

"Fair nuff," the Tau'ri said.

 

 

 

<><><><><> 

 

 

 

He stepped forward, elaborate velvet robes swishing around his legs. He looked regal, he looked royal. He was handsome in his own way…and he was her father. "Dad?" Sam asked, forgetting her role and easily speaking through Talya's control. Right now, her symbiote was in a near catatonic state of shock.

 

He figure shook his head, laughing in amusement. "Samantha, Samantha, Samantha," Selmac said, her voice rich with mockery. "Such naiveté. Such innocence. This is what we so loved about you." He stepped forward and Sam stood there in shock as her father's fingers caressed her face. "Such strength of belief, such loyalty. So admirable…so misplaced."

 

"Selmac, what the hell's going on?" Sam asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

 

"What is going on, my dear, is that you are a fool. You and the rest of the simpering Tok'ra."

 

"You're one of the 'simpering Tok'ra'," she said, desperately looking into his blue eyes, studying his face for a wink, a nod, something to tell her that he was just playing a role…something to tell her that she was right, that this was a game, some sort of back handed support. All she saw was derision and scorn.

 

"You see, my lord," Selmac said, glancing back at the dark figure. "Even now, with evidence before her, she still refuses to admit the truth."

 

"Indeed. It appears your façade is quite impressive," the system lord said. "As you see, Tok'ra. I have no need for your…services. Do with her as you wish," he dismissed. "I am sure the Jaffa would enjoy satisfying their carnal impulses."

 

"Perhaps," Selmac said. "Perhaps I shall watch. I must admit the disgust and hatred I'm feeling from my host is most enjoyable."

 

"Do as you wish, but do not burden me with the details. I have far more important matters to attend to."

 

Selmac bowed gracefully. "Yes, my lord," he said as he grabbed Sam's arm in an iron grip and pulled her from the room.

 

She followed him down the hall, his fast stride forcing her to jog unless she wanted to be dragged. She let him until they rounded a corner and were in a deserted stretch of corridor. Atalya reasserted herself, giving Sam the strength to pull free. "What kind of game are you playing?" she demanded.

 

"Game?" Selmac snorted. "This is no game."

 

"Where is my father?" Sam demanded.

 

"Oh, yes, him. Daddy dearest. The general that's so proud of his little girl," Selmac gloated. "Your father is a convenient shell. The key to Earth's destruction that was handed to me on a silver platter. He's dead, or as good as. He cowers in a corner of my mind, hiding, sulking. He's a host, nothing more," he said, walking towards her. Sam reflexively stepped back, her head shaking as she struggled to comprehend Selmac's words. No, it couldn't be true. Selmac wasn't a goa'uld, he was a Tok'ra. The oldest and wisest among them.  He was a leader, a member of the council.

 

He saved her father's life, he led him to mend their family, to fix their relationship. Thanks to Selmac, she had her father back. For the first time in decades, she honestly felt like she'd had a family. And it was all because of Selmac. "No. You…" She lowered her voice. "This is some ploy isn't it?"

 

"My god, you are stupid. Even the Jaffa aren't so blindly loyal." Selmac chuckled darkly. "Face it, you not only handed your father over as a host…you put your whole planet in our grasp. All those years you spent fighting the goa'uld…all you were doing was playing into our plans. Every goa'uld you killed only made it easier for my lord to sweep across this universe. How else do you think it was so easy to destroy your planet? How do you think that statue ended up on a planet that was on your duty roster? How do you think we made sure your teams would bring it back to Earth? It's because we knew you. We knew your planet, your defenses, your weaknesses. You not only saved me by giving me your father, you have Anubis access to over fifty years of Earth's secrets. You have helped my lord come to power, and for that I may be merciful and kill you quickly and without pain."

 

His words struck her like a bullet in the chest. She felt her heart lurch as she struggled to breathe, images flashing through her brain.

 

_A blood covered figure, his ball cap askew, cold stiff fingers still wrapped around his weapon._

_Soft strands of auburn strands trailing over her fingers as she straightened Janet's hair._

_Cassie's vacant, blank eyes._

_Teal'c's last gasping breath._

_Endless hours, lost in madness, cleaning the blood off the floor, the walls, her hands._

_Slick cold blood on her fingers…a tiny, rubbery fragment left…brilliant blue blood splattered on the walls, congealing as it dripped down._

_A strong, graceful hand going limp in her grasp._

 

Dead. They were all dead…all because of her. She stared at Selmac, oddly calm as she studied the familiar visage of her father. His face was so familiar, so lovingly familiar. He was her life. He was why she was where she was. She'd joined the Air Force because of him…for him. All her life she'd worked so hard to please him, to gain his approval. She'd fought to get him Selmac, struggled to convince General Hammond to allow her to save her father. She'd been so proud when she'd seen him alive and healthy. So thrilled to be able to work with him, to spend time with him as an equal, as a soldier not just as a daughter. "Was he ever in control?" she whispered.

 

"Yes," Selmac said after a few  moments. "He was so easy to fool, so trusting. All I ever had to do was convince him to go to sleep and he did as I wished. He saw what I wanted him to see, heard what I wanted him to hear, did what I wanted him to do. He was a most obedient man, your father."

 

Sam nodded slowly, processing Selmac's words. "Is he aware now?"

 

Selmac smiled, twisting Jacob's lips into a parody of a happy grin. "Very…it is not as enjoyable if he is not a witness to his actions."

 

Sam nodded slowly as she pulled the heavy chain from around her neck, holding it up to study the crystal. Even in the dim light of the corridor, it sparkled merrily, like an icicle catching the first golden rays of the rising sun. Seamlessly drawing up on Atalya's knowledge she struck, twisting the chain around his neck in a flash. Before he could react, she tightened the impromptu garrote, pulling it tighter and tighter. He struggled and flailed, his strength a match for hers. Fueled by her anger, she refused to relent, twisting the silver links tighter and tighter, ignoring when she felt the chain cut into his skin. He gasped and she pulled. He choked and she pulled. His knees gave way and still she pulled, ignoring when the chain ground into her skin and cut her palm. Their blood mingled and meshed as she refused to release her strangle hold.

 

"I'm sorry, Dad." She thought maybe, if anyone could, he would understand

 

He fell to the floor and she let him pull her down, not feeling as she bruised her knees, not feeling as her clothing soaked up his dripping blood, not feeling as his struggles grew weaker and weaker.

 

His eyes flared one last time and he grew limp and still she pulled. Tighter and tighter she drew her noose, not noticing the hot tears that streaked down her face to mingle with his cooling blood. 'Samantha?'

 

Talya's voice teased at the edges of her consciousness and she ignored it, her gaze riveted on the twitching figure lying on her lap. 'Samantha?'

 

His left hand flopped and his wedding band made an odd sound as it thunked against the ebony deck plate.

 

'It's over,' Talya whispered, gently taking control and releasing Sam's hands. 'It's over. It's over,' she crooned as she directed Sam's hands to untwist the chain from around Jacob's neck.

 

'It's never over,' Sam said, bending over to gently kiss her father's forehead. 'It never ends.'

 

<><><><><> 

 

Bra'tac stood along the wall of the Tau'ri's building, studying the gathered people. He saw many of them studying him, some surreptitiously, some blatantly.  Some were afraid of him, others looked to be fascinated by him, staring at him and his men.  The room was crowded and he knew that it would be best if he was not here, but he felt that he had to be. It was his fate they were discussing after all.

 

The Tau'ri were debating amongst themselves to decide if they were willing to allow the Tollan and Jaffa, or just one group, or none of them to remain among them.

 

He could not tell if the vote would be in his favor or not.

 

Teal'c was making a most impassioned speech in favor of the Jaffa being allowed to remain. An incredible speech, given that Bra'tac knew the man speaking was not his student, but a recreation.

 

"We know many planets," Teal'c said. "Many more than the Tau'ri do. As Jaffa we also have access to the secrets of the goa'uld. We give this information freely, as we shall share supplies that we shall assist in foraging for. We also pledge our lives in defense of this world and the people here. All we ask is for somewhere to live, somewhere to raise our families, somewhere to—"

 

The door to the room slammed open, interrupting Teal'c and Bra'tac watched as one of the Tollan ran into the room, his eyes wide. "A ship," he gasped. "There is a ship."

 

 

<><><><><> 

 

Even had he not been imbued with Harlan's excellent memory, the sight before him would be one Jack O'Neill would remember forever. He and the rest of his team had managed to sneak on the hatak ship courtesy of a teltac and their unique abilities. They'd escaped being discovered by hiding in the unpressurized hold of the ship and relying on their non-human state to survive.

 

Their hope had been to find a way to destroy the ship, or at the very least, to buy the refugees on the Alpha Site enough time to flee the planet.  At least he hoped they could flee. He had no idea if they'd gotten the Stargate open before any forces from Anubis tied it up or not.

 

He didn't know, and he didn't care. Their self-appointed mission was to try and save the last refugees not only of Earth, but also Tollana and the rebel Jaffa. Whether it was a suicide mission or not had yet to be determined.  He'd expected to meet resistance. What he hadn't expected was to find a friendly on the ship.

 

And he sure as hell hadn't expected to come upon the scene of that same friendly on her knees, leaning over the body of her father.

 

Motioning to Carter, Daniel and Teal'c to watch their backs, Jack made his way over to Sam, frowning when she didn't even acknowledge his presence. He knelt down, touching her on the shoulder. "Sam?"

 

She looked up, her eyes vacant and unfocussed. She frowned at him for a second. "Jack?" she finally said.

 

"Yeah. What happened?"

 

"How did…what are you doing here?" she asked, ignoring his question.

 

"This ship is in orbit above the Alpha Site. We just happened to be there," he said, taking note of the thick silver chain wrapped around her fingers, congealing blood marring its pristine surface. Blood that had to have come from the vicious ligature mark on Jacob's neck. "What happened?" he asked again, struggling to make sense of the sight before him. Who the hell had killed Jacob? And what the hell was he doing on this ship?

 

"I was a fool," she said softly, stroking Jacob's head.

 

"Sam?" he pressed, shooting an anxious glance at his team. They didn't have time for this.

 

"Don't trust the Tok'ra anymore. They've been infiltrated by the goa'uld. I don't know how far or for how long. It may only be a few of them, but…don’t trust the Tok'ra," she said again, looking him in the eyes.

 

"You're a Tok'ra," Daniel said softly.

 

"I was." She gave a wan smile, more pathetic than anything else. "Now I'm just lost."  She reached down and picked up Jacob's slack hand, struggling a bit as she pulled the wedding ring off his finger. Her hands shaking, she kissed her fingers, then laid that same hand on Jacob's forehead. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Jack watched her take a deep breath, then raise her eyes. "I can get to the bridge and I can kill Anubis. Do you have any C-4?"

 

Jack nodded. "Close enough. Give Carter a chemistry set and you'd be surprised what she can whip up."

 

Sam nodded. "Go down to level twenty-three. You'll see a deep shaft; it goes down to the field generators. Set your timer for five seconds and drop the charges. The blast will take out the force shields."

 

"What good will that do?"

 

"Once I kill Anubis, I'll crash the ship. Without force shields, it'll crumble. I'll try not to crash near the settlement but I may not have too much choice," she said fatalistically.

 

"What about you?" Carter asked.

 

Sam smiled a sad but determined smile. "I'm dead already." She got to her feet, her hand still clasping the ring, the necklace dangling from her other fingers. "You won't have much time once you blow the shields. There are glider bays on the same level. You might be able to make it out that way."

 

"Sam?" Jack asked, frowning at her grim determination. He saw something else in her eyes, something that scared him.

 

"I aided genocide once, I can't fix that. I can try and fix this." she said as an announcement began to echo through the corridors. "They're getting ready to launch the gliders, you don't have much time," she said. She reached out and grabbed Jack's arm. "Take care of them," she said. "Whatever happens, the last of the Tau'ri CANNOT die."

 

"Ok," he agreed.

 

"It was an honor, Colonel," she said, before turning on her heel and dashing back down the hall.

 

"Jack?"

 

"Let's do as she asks, Daniel," he said, shifting his weapon. "Teal'c, get us to those shield generators."

 

<><><><><> 

 

Sam strode down the hall, oddly at peace with herself and her forthcoming death. 'You should not be so fatalistic,' Talya said. 'You may survive.' Sam remained silent, ignoring her symbiote's very presence. Talya could feel the woman's despair and sensed that even if she did survive, she did not want to live any longer.

 

'Samantha?'

 

'I killed them. I killed them all.'

 

'You did not kill them Samantha, you were tricked. You had no way of knowing,' Talya said. 'I have known Selmac for nearly a thousand years and I never knew.'

 

'I gave my father to the goa'uld.'

 

'Samantha…'

 

'NO! I gave my father to a goa'uld! There is no forgiveness for what I've done. I…I'm as guilty as Anubis is.'

 

'We can go assist SG-1,' Talya said, recognizing her host's temperament and attitude. There was nothing she could say, nothing that she could ever do to make Samantha forgive herself. 'Anubis may die in the crash.'

 

'I'm not leaving anything to chance,' Sam said. 'If we don’t stop him, he'll do it again.'

 

'I am not arguing with you, Anubis must be stopped. But you do not have to die to do it.'

 

'Murderers should die,' Sam said. 'I just wish…I wish we had time to find you a better host. After all we've been through together, you deserve better than to die like this.'

 

'We are bound,' Talya said. 'As O'Neill would put it, you go, I go.'

 

'And I condemn one more soul to death,' Sam said sadly.

 

'You condemn no one.' Talya said firmly. 'I come willingly.'

 

They rounded one last turn in the corridor and stopped short at the sight of two Jaffa guarding the door to the peltac. In an instant, Sam sprung into action, drawing upon Talya's knowledge and greater strength as she first subdued one of the Jaffa, using his zat to kill the second one. 'Do you have a plan you want to share with me?' Talya asked as Sam pulled the Jaffa's knife from its sheath before disintegrating the man.

 

'Anubis dies.'

 

'I was hoping for a little more,' the symbiote said, doing what she could to strengthen the bond between them. She knew Samantha would need every ounce of their shared strength to have any hope of killing the goa'uld.

 

'Weren't we all.' Sam flung the door open and stalked across the room. Anubis was seated upon his throne with Herak at his side. Raising her zat, she fired, hitting the Jaffa twice. 'But this will have to do.'

 

He collapsed to the floor as Anubis shot to his feet. "For Earth," Sam said, pulling her arm back and letting the knife fly. It spun across the room and buried itself in his chest. Anubis roared and Sam felt a moment of triumph.

 

It was short lived as she watched in horror as the knife shifted, falling out of his robes and clattering upon the deck. "No!" Talya cried as he raised his hand and fired a blast from his ribbon weapon. It struck Sam in the chest and threw her back. The moment stretched on forever, but instead of her life flashing by her, Sam saw what could have been. She saw her with SG-1, fighting to save Earth, winning, and living to fight again. She felt their love for her and hers for them. They were there during the hard times, and they shared in the good times. They were there, and it was a good life.

 

Talya heard and felt the sickening crack as her host hit the wall and slid to the floor, her neck irreparably broken.

 

'Samantha? Samantha?' Getting no response and recognizing the unmistakable feeling of death, Talya's thoughts turned to her own survival. Wondering if she'd have time to mourn, she pushed her way out of her host's body, slithering out onto the cold, hard deck. Her eyesight severely limited, she struggled to focus, barely able to make out the dark shape of Anubis coming to stand over her.

 

Rough, gloved hands reached down and grasped her, holding her firmly. As soon as he touched her, she knew something was wrong. He was not human…and he was not goa'uld either. He was…an abomination, a nightmare given form.

 

He brought her up before his face and said something, a sound her ears were not capable of processing. She squealed and struggled as he tightened his grip. She felt the tiny bones in her body begin to break and,  she resigned herself to her fate.

 

In an instant of a blinding flash of light, he released her. She fell to the deck, writhing in pain, both from within and from without, as light assaulted her senses. She heard an inhuman roar and she recoiled, instinctively trying to find her way back to her host and the meager protection provided by the woman's dead body. The light faded and silence rushed in to smother the last echoes of Anubis' screams.

 

Talya still struggled on, ignoring the pain of her injuries in an instinctive attempt to hide from the unknown. She knew just how vulnerable she was, how easily she could be killed. She was just delaying the inevitable, she knew she was fatally injured, but she needed, wanted to die with her former host. If there was an afterlife, she did not want Samantha to spend her time there alone.

 

Gentle hands picked her up and she protested, squealing as she was taken away from her goal. No. She wanted to be with Samantha. Why could they not let her be where she wanted to be? She was dying, why could they not let her die in peace?

 

The world flashed warm and white and she stood upon the peltac of the ship. Looking around in amazement she looked at herself, staring down upon the familiar hands of her host.

 

Movement caught her eyes and she looked up, frowning at the sight of a female figure, dressed in blinding white. "What is this?"

 

"Your fate is in your hands," she said, smiling sweetly.

 

"What fate? What am I…this isn't my body."

 

"When the mind is enlightened, the spirit is free and the body matters not." Talya stared at her, a fragment of a memory seeping into her brain. There were tales from the old time,  myths of creatures of light. Even the Nox and the Tollan had such tales.  "Yes," she nodded. "I am what you believe I am."

 

"Sher'mal?" Talya asked, dredging the Tollan name from the recesses of her mind.

 

"I am no angel. You may call me Oma Desala," she said, stepping back and bending over. She stood up, Anubis' limp robe clasped in her hands. "I owe you a debt," she said.

 

"We failed."

 

"You saved many lives today," Oma said.

 

"Not enough," Talya said, looking down upon the still form of her former host. She knelt down and gently brushed a lock of errant hair off Sam's face. She mourned her host, mourned her death, mourned that she died in such pain, with the weight of a million deaths upon her soul.

 

"Regardless, the Tau'ri still live, there is still a chance for them to become the Fifth Race."

 

"Fifth Race?" Talya asked, intrigued by the term.

 

Oma shook her head. "I have come to offer you Ascension," she said.

 

"What is that?"

 

"That is as I am, as he was." She gestured with the discarded cloak.

 

Talya shook her head, taking a step back. "No, I…"

 

"Anubis was evil. Because of that he was cast out thousands of years ago. During his exile, he learned the secrets of Ascension. He attained this state without our aid."

 

"Our? There are more of you?"

 

"You are not evil. I give you this gift in gratitude for your attempt to defeat him and for saving the Tau'ri."

 

"What about Samantha?" Talya asked.

 

"To ascend, you must first release your burden."

 

Talya stared at her for a moment. "Her burden…her guilt."

 

"Yes. She cannot ascend until she can forgive herself."

 

"She made a mistake, yes, but she didn't know any better. She was tricked, they all were."

 

"Only those that are willing can find their way to the great path," Oma said.

 

Talya stared at her host and felt her heart fall. Her host carried much guilt, self appointed blame for acts that happened decades before. Guilt was a part of her, a segment of her very soul. She did not think Samantha was capable of surrendering her guilt. And without the cleansing of forgiveness, her soul would be forever burdened.

 

"What if she had a guide?" Talya asked, looking Oma in the eyes. The woman was clearly surprised.

 

"You would do this?" Talya nodded. "The risks are great. If she were to falter, you both shall fall."

 

"But if I can get her to forgive, help her until she is able to find her own way," Talya pressed.

 

"Her success or failure will not be judged solely by her deeds. She is to judge by the intention of her actions and her strength as she faced the challenges of her life. She must see that she did change things for the better. She must decide if she is truly good or evil," Oma said.

 

"And if I can get her to see that?" Talya asked. The alien frowned, her eyes going out of focus as if she was consulting an inner voice. "Please, give her a chance," Talya begged. Oma looked at her, her face sad. "I won't go without her," Talya said. She knelt down and took Sam's limp hand in her own, noting that the flesh was already growing cold. "If I cannot ascend with her, then send me back and at least let us die together."

 

<><><><><> 

 

Narim walked across the compound, shivering slightly in the early evening chill. It was springtime on the planet and several weeks since their desperate flight from Tollana. Around him, he heard the unmistakable sound of the settlement moving, breathing, living.

 

Today was a momentous day. The first of the colonists were due to leave. The Alpha Site had survived Anubis' attack with surprisingly little loss of life. In the distance, he could just still see the silhouette of the crashed hatak against the setting sun, testimony to the success of SG-1, and a monument to the sacrifice of one of their own.

 

They'd searched the ship after it'd crashed, looking for any surviving Jaffa, to either invite to join the rebels, or to evict from the planet. Surprisingly, they'd found none. No survivors, no bodies…just broken, empty rooms and shattered consoles. It was as if a great hand had swept down and removed every living creature.

 

He still wondered what had happened to her, where Samantha had gone. For some reason, he didn't feel that she was dead, just that she was gone. It was the way he had felt when he'd left Earth to take refuge with the Nox all those years before.

 

People began to congregate around the Stargate. Narim hefted the bag on his shoulder, knowing that he would have to join them. Most of the Tollan had chosen to leave for the colony and he had been elected to be their leader, so he was going to depart in the first group.

 

Presuming, of course, that Schroedinger cooperated.

 

Hurrying to the tree in the center of the clearing he looked up, quickly spying the large orange tabby among the blooming branches. In recent weeks, the tree had become the feline's home, the creature spending entire days lounging among its branches, descending to the ground only to eat or attend its bodily needs. "Schroedinger, we must depart now," he said, reaching up for the animal.

 

It ignored him, negligently licking one of its paws.

 

"Narim, it's time to go." He turned to see Colonel O'Neill and the other members of SG-1 walking towards him.  The robots had been the ones to find the colony site and were going to lead Narim and his fellow Tollans there and help them establish themselves.

 

"Of course, Colonel," Narim said, setting down his bag as he again reached for the cat. The creature responded by hissing slightly, his ears folding back.

 

"What's wrong with Schroedinger?" Captain Carter asked, moving to join him.

 

"I do not know."

 

"Perhaps the feline is unable to descend," Teal'c suggested. He reached for the cat and this time Schroedinger responded with a feral growl, baring its teeth.

 

"You do not have a way with animals, Teal'c," O'Neill said.

 

"You know," Jackson said. "It's almost like he doesn't want to go."

 

Narim looked to him. "Doctor Jackson?"

 

He shrugged. "He's acting like he doesn't want to leave."

 

Narim turned back to the cat. "Is that it Schroedinger? Do you wish to remain here?"

 

The tabby responded by curling his tail around his body, a smug look on his face. "I think that's it," Captain Carter said.

 

"Then leave it here," O'Neill said. "We got a wormhole to catch."

 

"Good bye, Schroedinger," Narim said, accepting the cat's decision. He bent down and picked up his bag, falling into step behind the four robots.

 

In the tree, Schroedinger watched him leave, proudly grooming his whiskers. Just as the setting sun sank behind the artificial hill of the wrecked hatak, a soft wind blew, making the metal bits suspended among the branches tinkle merrily. Hearing the faint sound of happy laughter, he began to purr, finally happily content in his new home, and with his old companion.

_'This is the fifth race isn't it? The three of them working together. None of them could have done it alone.'_

_'Perhaps. Perhaps it was fate, but they are no longer your responsibility. Now you must lay your burden to rest. You have lived hard, you have done good, you need to let go.'_

_'I don't think I can do that yet.'_

_'That is all right, we have all the time in the world.'_

 As the sun rose, Schroedinger purred at the two beings of light that sat in the tree, swinging their legs among the branches. He wasn't surprised that the people couldn't see them. Everyone knows that people are blind.

 

~Fin~

 

Almost four years ago, Adi and I were chatting back and forth as we're wont to do and she brought up an odd idea…for me to finally write a fic where I don't put my toys neatly away in the end. An honest to god AU fic where things change and there's no 'happy ending' reset switch.

 

I balked at first, I do tend to go for the warm and fuzzy…but the more I thought about it, the more appealing it sounded to set aside my self-imposed confines and write something truly unique. So we did.

 

Fini came first and it was oddly therapeutic to kill the planet. Then came Primordium, a story that actually had a plot and finally Natus, the final chapter to the Phoenix Trilogy.

It's been a wild four years as we gave MSN a work out, messaging back and forth, burning the bandwidth as we played tag, alternating scenes and working to keep track of our own little universe.

 

If it wasn't for her, I'd still be pottering around in my safe little 'keep it canon' sandbox and I'd never know the thrill of doing something truly different. This is very likely the last fic we'll ever conspire on together and I can't help but be sad at the end of an era.

 

 


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